


A Powerpuff Problem

by PonderingWriter (Tziput13)



Category: Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Powerpuff Girls
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Humor, Original Series, Parody
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 23:25:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5604856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tziput13/pseuds/PonderingWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The announcement of a brand new Powerpuff Girls series may not be that big of a deal for Frankie and Mac, but the same cannot be said for all the rest of the world. A fact that will have quite notable consequences for Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and its current occupants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> This cross-over is a cross-over… sort of. Because from a certain point of view, it isn't. You'll understand what I mean as you read the first chapter.

* * *

**SUNDAY** _  
_

* * *

 

_Really. How could a rabbit like him be meaner than that?_

Mac doubted that somewhere in the world existed an imaginary friend as much hardworking as Mr. Herriman. Today he had just made three steps into the foyer that the gentleman hopped right into his path and literally smashed a written note into his hands. _"I sure don't have time to tell all the necessary deeds through the megaphone system, so make yourself useful young master!",_ he had said with a commanding tone that didn't leave space for protests.

Easy for him to talk around, when he wasn't the one doing the hard work... And he couldn't simply say 'no', given the fact that his particular relation with Foster's was already a clear infringement of the rules.

…okay, to be honest it was because he was a little scared by the imaginary friend. But hey, everyone would be nervous with someone like Herriman around!

At that moment, Mac was walking through one of the dozens (or thousands) of hallways that filled the internal parts of the mansion. He had encountered and said hello to three imaginary friends during the walk, but apart from them he had been alone. There was no sign of Bloo or his other friends.

His patience might have thinned out by that moment, but thank goodness this time Mr. Herriman had asked for something actually in his range. He only needed to walk for thirty additional seconds before reaching his destination.

He stopped in front of the door and knocked on it, "Hey, Frankie? It's me, Mac."

"Come in!" came the answer right away, "I'm just relaxing myself for a moment."

Mac didn't want to make the young woman wait: he pushed the door open and got into Frankie's room. She was sitting in front of her personal computer, though as for now she was directly facing Mac. Her green sweatshirt lied abandoned on her bed.

"Don't tell me… Herriman has something to say about the fact I've been inactive for more than five minutes straight?"

"Maybe he doesn't know exactly about what you're doing now, but he must have felt it. Here, it's for you," Mac said before handing the note over. Frankie took the thing and, while she read over the extremely long number of requests, visibly frowned.

"Oh, man… that rabbit is going to make me lose it one day," she groaned.

"Well, he can't hear us, so I think you can rest for some extra minutes without him knowing you did…" Mac suggested. Frankie shook her head in disapprobation, "Thanks for the tip, but I've doubts about him not being able to hear us. When he wants, he can be full of surprises…"

That said, Frankie watched over the screen and grabbed the mouse, no doubt in order to turn the machine off.

Before she could do it, though, Mac glanced and the screen in curiosity and said, "What were you doing anyway?"

"Oh, nothing special Mac, though I don't know if you can be interested as well."

She moved sideward with the chair in order to let Mac watch was being displayed on the screen.

There were a number of pages opened on an internet browser, but the currently opened page was special in its theme.

It was a simple blog article featuring some new details and opinions about a future TV show that was going to air in a few months.

The new Powerpuff Girls series.

"Well, it isn't surprising, given how everyone in the house knows how much of a fan you are," Mac stated, losing part of his interest.

Frankie gave a quick look to the three colour pattern visible on her t-shirt. "Ha… That's true, but, you know, I'm not really looking forward to see the new show that much. It's basically all new, new voices, new style… everything, so we can't really say if this new series is going to be good or not."

Mac scoffed at the description, "Whatever it is, I'm not interested. It isn't my type of cartoon anyway…"

"Isn't it? If I know something about the Powerpuff Girls original series, it's that it had a high appeal to everyone, no matter the age or sex. I bet you watched some episodes here and there… didn't you?"

Mac would have attempted to rebut at once if it wasn't for the soul-reading look that Frankie fixed him with. He immediately blushed against his will and watched the other way around… "Uuuhhm… I may have watched some… but only like, ahem… less than ten episodes, I think!"

"Yeah, yeah, if that's what you say…" Frankie said, a visible smirk on her face.

"Oh, please don't tell Bloo! If he comes to know about it, I'm doomed!"

The redhead winked at the frightened eight year old boy while she put on her green sweatshirt, "Don't worry, I'm not that mean. It's going to be our little secret."

Mac sighed in relief at the reassurance. He couldn't really say if he could sustain the amount of times and ways the blue imaginary fried would make fun of him with that tiny fact.

With that settled, both Frankie and Mac left the woman's bedroom and the former raised up the paper: "So, what's the first thing you have for me Her-…"

" _MISS FRANCES!"_

The voice of the imaginary friend was impossible not to be recognized, even though it was a bit distorted by the filters of the megaphones.

" _Your assistance is asked at the foyer, right away!_ _Make your travel down here fast!"_

Frankie glared at nothing in particular while she stomped towards the nearest receiver and roughly answered, "COOOMING!"

He put the device back on the wall and sighed, "Sheesh, he really wants to see me work with his own eyes…"

Mac wasn't of the same idea. "I dunno, Frankie. He seemed… worried. Maybe there is something big happening down on the ground floor."

"Can't be any worse than the tasks he had just assigned me to do with this piece of paper. I believe I saw your friends in their room last time, anyway. I must go now, Mac, see you later!"

"Hey, can I come with you? I don't know, but I really feel something new is going on…"

"Suit yourself, Mac," Frankie said before beginning to walk towards the nearest stairs. The boy followed her as he wondered what could have made Mr. Herriman nervous. He rarely lost control of his nerves and he was usually calm until someone (with the someone being Bloo most of the times) broke the rules more than one time.

The two of them moved without running but still at a quick pace. They weren't really far from the foyer, in any case… therefore, it was only five minutes after their departure that they began to hear _the voices._

"Hey, do you hear someone speaking?" Mac asked.

"More than one I'd say. Must be a group of new imaginary friends and the rabbit wants me to show them the house," Frankie answered.

The voices gained in number as they approached the entrance, and so did the overall loudness.

Both Frankie and Mac raised up their speed. That definitely explained why Herriman was worried. No doubt he was having trouble now keeping all the new imaginary friends at ease.

The problem was, the friends were a lot. But a real big lot of them. When they reached sight of the upper platform of the foyer, the noise was easily comparable to the combined sounds of a disco, a plane taking off and a full active construction site.

"Oh boy, this ain't good…" Frankie shuddered as he and Mac finally reached the platform and began descending the first series of stairs.

What they saw, however, froze them midway.

Yes, the room was completely full of imaginary friends, alright, and it was hard not to see Herriman as he shouted orders around, phrases that went unheard for a half and unlistened for the other. What they were not expecting at all, though, was the kind of imaginary friends that filled the chamber.

Powerpuff Girls themed friends. _Everywhere._

Frankie had a precise idea about the new show… but that didn't mean than anyone in the world was of the same idea. The result of the worldwide hype was right before her.

" _Ohh… dang."_

* * *

Mac and Frankie remained motionless for ten seconds straight, and only the appearance of an imaginary friend in front of them broke their trance.

"Hello!" Blossom said politely. Or, to be more precise, _a_ Blossomsaid.

Frankie tried her best to force her lips to twirl into a smile. The resulting expression was closer to a grimace, but Frankie had not the time to refine it.

"Uuhh… Hello.. Uhm, sorry, but we really have to go and speak with Mr. Herriman now…" she spluttered, still half stunned.

"Oh really? Can I go with…?"

The Blossom crossed her hands in annoyance when Frankie left her alone without waiting for her to finish her speech, with Mac right behind her. She would have had to fill in a public complain about the workers in this house…

"This is bad! This is bad!" Frankie quickly said to herself, watching around only to find problems that needed her attention.

"There's too much of them! We need to organize them somehow or…" Mac tried to suggest, but he inadvertently bumped into an imaginary friend and lost sight of the young woman.

Fuzzy Lumpkins immediately stopped his arguing with the three Buttercups who were making fun of him and glared at the kid, "Hey, watch where're ya going, ya fool!"

"Sorry!" Mac apologized before trying to put as much space as possible between him and the hillbilly imaginary friend. But he ended up encountering another friend in the same way he did with the Fuzzy one. Possibly putting himself in an even worse situation.

"What are you trying to do, loser?" Brick snarled before grabbing Mac and raising him from the ground with surprising strength.

Two additional rowdyruff imaginary friends circled the kid, effectively blocking every escape route.

"What do we have here, a scared little kid?" Butch joked, noticing how Mac was beginning to get frightened.

"I say he wants to be beaten up!" Boomer said excitedly before being hit by Brick's free hand.

"Of course he wants to be beaten up, idiot... Let's see how much resistant you are, kiddo," Brick informed before launching a punch into Mac's face.

Mac was sure he was doomed, but the fist stopped millimetres away from his nose, at the same time as a 'HEY!' was heard.

Unfortunately, it was Brick who said it. At least, _another_ Brick.

"That kiddo is ours!" Brick Two shouted in anger.

"What? I don't seem to remember you've grabbed him first!" Brick One retorted.

"We've been following him for ages!" Boomer Two protested, "You ain't just getting him without a fight!"

"Jeez, Boomer, that guy is as obnoxious as you…" Butch One chuckled, gaining an angry glare from Boomer One.

"So, hand down the kid, or else!" Butch Two growled, already ready for the upcoming fight.

"Come and get him then!" Brick One challenged. Instantly, Mac was left behind and he simply stood unmoved and astonished as he watched the six Rowdyruff Boys fight each other.

Not as superheroes, mind you, just as five years old kids (or imaginary friends as they were) would do.

"You're all right?" a voice said as someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm okay, thanks…" Mac said before turning in hope to find a known face. Unfortunately, in front of him he found no other than Professor Utonium himself.

"Those rascals there are always up to something, try to avoid them from now on, okay?"

"Uhhm… yeah?" Mac mechanically answered, completely at the mercy of the succeeding events.

"Good boy!" Professor Utonium said, though his lips did not open at all.

In fact, it was a _second_ Professor Utonium who said it, and the new imaginary friend right away appeared at the left side of the first professor.

"You are a fine example of braveness. Keep it up!" Professor Utonium Two said smiling.

"I cannot help but agree, colleague!" Professor Utonium One replied, "Say, have you perhaps some knowledge in nanoinformatics?"

"Why, of course! I have lots of experience in that field! How can I help you?"

"Well, before moving into this place, I've been working on this new project mine, for which I based myself on…"

Mac slowly walked away from the two professors, keeping a fake smile on his face.

 _They're all crazy here! I need to find Frankie!,_ he thought as he nervously gazed around trying to locate the redhead. He sprinted towards what appeared to be a glint of red hair but stopped when he realized it was another imaginary friend, a Miss Bellum this time. The Blossoms running around weren't of help either for his search.

Mac would have considered panicking if it weren't for the figure that put itself in front of him.

"YOU!"

Mac kept silent and a shocked face as he stared at the imaginary friend in front of him. This was an example he had already seen once at Foster's… but this one was far more faithful to the source material.

"I've had it of this chaos!" Mojo Jojo uttered in annoyance, "if I have to live in this home from hereon, that is to say, to begin to pass my days inside this mansion, I require the environment needed for a being of superior intelligence as me!"

The imaginary friend put a finger right into Mac's chest, "I have a feeling you may have a link to the masters of this foster home, thus I order you to bring me to the heads to who I will make my due requests!"

"I… I cannot seem to find them…" Mac babbled, sweat coming down his cheeks.

"WHAT?!" the Mojo Jojo imaginary friend shouted, his eyes getting reddish, "I surely hope you have a good explanation for that answer, pathetic brat! Or there may be consequences towards your person! Consequences that might consist in…"

Mac shook his head and didn't let the friend finish his speech (he didn't look forward to it, anyway): "I'm trying to find them as well, you know! But there's just too much people!"

Instead of getting angrier, the Mojo Jojo watched Mac in thought for some seconds… before saying, "Do you have an image of the head of this home, so that you can give a proper description to anyone who would request it?"

"Uhh… I do?" Mac hesitantly answered. He wasn't liking where this was going.

But for once his expectations were mistaken. The imaginary friend took out what appeared to be a sub telescope made out of tin cans.

"Umph! You are lucky, young boy, because I, Mojo Jojo, have in my hands the instrument that will led us both to our goal! Whatever you goal is…"

Mac sighed in relief. Perhaps there was a solution to this madness.

* * *

Frankie left Herriman behind herself, as the rabbit had just passed out some seconds before, and put an hand on her forehead. The friends around her didn't seem to have any intention to get quieter or at least calmer.

She saw someone making its way towards her, and she was surprised to see Mac, who she had lost in the maze, moving towards her between puffs, villains and other characters alike, followed by the nth themed imaginary friend.

"Frankie! I cannot take it anymore!" Mac moaned as he regained his breath, "There's no way we can keep track of all these imaginary friends!"

"This situation is unbearable!" the friend at his side added, the purple cape flying around, "And it is your duty to solve it at any cost, as I, Mojo Jojo, won't tolerate any more of this distracting mess!"

"I KNOW!" Frankie shouted back, silencing both Mac and the Mojo Jojo imaginary friend, "I just… _*gasp*_ …"

She left herself fall to the ground. Mac went instantly to her side, while Mojo Jojo stared at them dumbfounded.

"Frankie! You're all right?" Mac asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Frankie reassured, "It's just that…"

She sighed again before watching the ceiling above her, the noises around barely audible for just an instant.

_This is going to be a long week, isn't it?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is based on that small Mojo Jojo cameo in the pilot episode of Foster's, and various cameos and references in other episodes that suggested PPG to be a TV show in the Foster's world. I thought it could give a good premise for a humour story, and with the reboot coming in I had the perfect excuse to make it happen as well.
> 
> Update: Remember, the new series which is talked about in this story is left to your interpretation as to what it is and it’s not necessarily the same reboot that aired in 2016. On the other hand, the bulk of this story is still based on the original Powerpuff Girls series from 1998 and there are no references to the above-mentioned reboot.


	2. Day Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact #23: when I published the first chapter about five months ago, I thought I could have at least tried to finish this story before the new PPG reboot aired… Uhh, yeah, I failed. Oh well, this story is still getting updates and will be finished in any case, sooner or later. Just to clarify, though, I'm going to keep using the original show as reference (as I'm probably going to do for all my future PPG fanfics).
> 
> Some additional info: I've decided to finish another story I'm working on before getting over with this one, as I've realized I'm not able to bring the two of them forward at the same time like I wanted without affecting the 'quality' (even though I tried to follow a different road map with this story, I learned that it's still of no use if I have another story to work on). So you might have to wait for some time again to see new chapters for this story. I'll try to keep that period of time as short as possible.

* * *

**MONDAY**

* * *

 

Mac was walking on the sidewalk of the road that brought to Foster's. He was scowling.

Yesterday had been a really hard day. He remembered of other times that Foster's got crowded and the problems that were brought with those events: the scribbled imaginary friends, the first time he had met Goo… but nothing was comparable to _this._

The Powerpuff-themed imaginary friends were, in a few words, impossible to be kept under control. Most of them were reckless, be that by character trait or an original feature courtesy of their creator, but the worst of the situation was given by their interactions. The villains and the heroes were already a problem on their own… but what if there were conflicts even inside these groups?

_Chaos._

Mac had tried to help Frankie along with some courageous imaginary volunteers to calm the new arrivals down and try to introduce them to the house and their rooms. Obviously, when he had left to return home they had not finished yet. So now Mac was wondering if perhaps they would have been a little quieter now compared to the previous day.

He finally reached the front of the mansion and walked down the path until he stopped right in front of the front door. He decided to knock on it rather than just come in, and he waited for Mr. Herriman or any trespasser on the other side to greet him.

Mac was pessimist, but even he wasn't prepared when someone on the other side opened the door basically two seconds after he had hit the wood. Huh, he was lucky… maybe it wasn't going to be a bad da-.

His thought came to an abrupt end when he realized that the friend in front of him was not Herriman. There weren't many friends around that had pink fur, two antennas and the most unwelcoming face ever.

Fuzzy Lumpkins glared at the little boy in front of him before uttering, "Whadda you tryin' to do here, you little brat?"

Mac tried to find the right words to deal with the hillbilly, "Uhhh… you know, I always visit the house during the afternoon… it's a habit I've developed so… can I please come in?"

Fuzzy Lumpkins suddenly blurted out laughing, before regaining his annoyed stare, "That's like the stupidest excuse ever! And ya' think I'll buy that? Ha! For you I have only one thing to say!"

That said, he breathed in a huge quantity of air before shouting, "GET OFFA MY PROPERTY!"

Mac was literally shoved into the air by the sheer force of the shout, and hadn't it been for one of the trees in the garden he probably would have landed into the lawn of the houses at Foster's side. He grabbed a branch and stopped his movement, before clinging on it for dear life as he was quite far from the ground. Instead of going to his help, Fuzzy Lumpkins just scoffed and slammed the door shut.

Okay. Maybe he had jinxed it a bit. But hey, he was still in one piece, wasn't he?

Mac spent five minutes in regaining his equilibrium and climbing down the tree that had saved him. He therefore went once again for the front door, a scowl on his face. That imaginary friend may have been a brute hillbilly, but he wasn't going to let him just play the landlord of Foster, especially if-

"-it is a complete illogical and nonsense affirmation to say that Foster's is your property! You are a foster imaginary friend, and as such you have to respect the rules that let this home remain unscathed through time!" he heard Mr. Herriman say from behind the door.

"Huh, whatever, bunny. I still don't want any more brats into this shack… the stupid Powerpuffs all around are already too much to bear!" Fuzzy Lumpkins (one of the various ones at least) said right before stomping away from Herriman, as Mac concluded given the heavy footsteps coming away.

Seconds after, the door opened to show the face of Mr. Herriman to the little boy. He had seen better days: his hat was missing, his normally perfectly clean fur was more similar to the one of a wild animal, and his eye goggle was cracked.

"I'm sorry Master Mac for the unforgivable greeting Master… the imaginary friend gave you… oh, I can't even begin to remember all of their names," Mr. Herriman apologized as he let Mac into the foyer.

"It's not a problem, Mr. Herriman. You might as well begin to list them using the cartoon names followed by a number. You can think later about remembering their real ones… there's simply too much of them to do so, and some of them do not even have personal names," Mac suggested.

"I thank you for your wise idea Master Mac, but there's a clear rule of the house that states that every imaginary friend must be registered by its proper name, and it would be disrespectful for me to not learn those and label every one of them by a simple number. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish the most needed updates to Foster's log of the entrances…"

That said, Mr. Herriman resolutely hopped away towards his office, while Mac rolled his eyes. Despite the situation, he still managed to think about the rules… he was determined; he had to give him that.

The boy settled into a stable pace towards Foster's arcade, in search of his friends… and possibly, without encountering any more themed friends. His desires were, of course, not easy to be fulfilled, and Lady Luck managed to help him for only thirty seconds before someone showed up in the hallway he was walking in.

Unfortunately, it was a villain… three of them. And Duchess was with them.

_Mental note: remember to NOT JINX IT._

"I absolutely agree with you!" Duchess screeched with her usual obnoxious accent, "The situation in this place has surpassed every limit! I won't just let more than those pesky friends ruin any more of my days!"

"Oh, you may want to do that, but I'd say you won't be able to let the Powerpuffs mess with you! The girls know how to be extremely annoying!" Princess Morebucks said, directly challenging the imaginary friend in arrogance meter.

"Ha! If the puffs don't, the _rowdyruffs_ will do!" _another_ Princess Morebucks said, a disgusted frown on her face.

"This rat nest of a house is full of those idiots, I don't know how we'll be able to- hey, what are you looking at?" the _third_ Princess Morebucksasked, firing a hard glare towards Mac. Mac wasn't actually looking at them, he had _tried_ to pass by unnoticed, but the three nobles were obviously in a bad mood and looked forward to pick someone to argue with.

"Nothing, nothing, just passing by…" Mac responded, not stopping himself, but he had to when Duchess uttered, "Passing by, he says! That's Mac, the creator of one of the worst, bad-doing, annoying rascal imaginary friend in the entire house!"

"As if bearing the presence of more than one hundred Powerpuff Girls wasn't _enough!"_ Princess Morebucks Two exclaimed, marching right in front of Mac's path.

"You know what? We may as well give this guy a lesson about well behaving! I have some surprises I brought with me…" Princess Morebucks One threatened, a hand ready to activate who-knows-what kind of hidden weapon.

"Hey! I don't want to do anything bad! I tell you I was just going to the arcade!" Mac cried, trying to reason with them.

"Hm! Bad liar is bad liar…" Duchess commented with an unimpressed look.

"I did not even need you to tell me! I've learned the hard way how to recognize this kind of scum!" Princess Morebucks Three affirmed. The three Princesses were blocking every possible way of escape- the boy was trapped.

Just before Mac resigned herself to die of a horrible death, he caught glimpse of something blue behind Princess Morebucks One, the friend in front of him. It was-

"Bloo!" Mac called, causing the Princesses and Duchess to turn in alarm.

"Mac?" Bloo said in surprise. He was carrying what seemed to be a joypad in one of his fingerless hands.

"RUN!"

Without further explanations, Mac ran past Princess Morebucks One and, six steps after, past Bloo.

"Raargh!" Duchess roared in anger, "Do not let them escape!"

"They won't!" Princess Morebucks Two said, as the three of them drew out three different gadget: an pistol, a twin-blade boomerang and a battle hammer.

At the sight of the three menacing villains coming for him, the hideous weapons at hand, Bloo did the only thing he could thing of: scream in fright, and then run for his life.

"What in the world were you thinking of?!" Bloo complained as he reached Mac, still running, "Making not one but _three_ of the villains mad!?"

"I didn't do anything! Duchess' fault!" Mac explained before cocking his head, dodging the projectile fired from one of the Princesses- apparently the pistol was able to shoot shells, even though they failed to notice what those shells actually were.

"Well, you could have tried to not let them see you! Jeez, I was already full of problems, you know!"

Mac resigned himself to not being able to convince Bloo and focused on more important matters, like losing the three villains that were trying to catch them.

The Morebucks proved to be great pursuers, as every attempt made by Mac and Bloo to lose them was, one by one, neutralized by them, even with the better knowledge of Foster's the two of them had. Sudden turns, intelligent use of doors and even a secret passage weren't enough.

Thus, eight minutes later, the Princesses were still behind them, not a sign of fatigue on their faces, while Mac and Bloo struggled to keep their speed high.

"I.. can't… keep… this… up!" Bloo panted as they made another turn.

"I… know! We need to… I… I don't know!" Mac said back, the two of them moving sideward for a moment to avoid the boomerang thrown by Princess Morebucks Two, who snarled in anger at the nth miss.

The boy hastily watched around, trying to find a way to get out of the terrible situation… then, it happened: a series of imaginary friends appeared… and thank goodness, they weren't themed!

"That's it!" Mac beamed and he made a last sprint for the group. The Princesses therefore were disappointed to see their targets literally _disappear_ into the group of imaginary friends.

"Argh! YOU!" Princess Morebucks One ordered, "I command YOU to scatter and let us see the ones who have just hidden themselves in your group.

The imaginary friends watched the three girls with stunned faces… then, they shrugged it off and continued to walk.

"Hey, we're talking to you! May you listen to us!?" Princes Morebucks Three screamed, trying to sound as much threatening as possible, but the imaginary friends continued to move without answering.

"I'm not letting anyone act like I don't even exist! Stop! NOW!" Princess Morebucks Two shouted, but she only gained some amused looks.

The three villains continued to protest and cry in anger, but the imaginary friends ignored them… most of them were well aware of the fact they were actually harmless, more so considering their number. And also, all the friends at Foster's were quite annoyed by the current situation given by the new arrivals… no wonder they pretended the three girls weren't even there.

Mac and Bloo walked with them, sighing in relief and regaining their breath.

"Oh, guys, why were you escaping from them?" one of the imaginary friends asked, in particular the pink octopus.

"Well, they were pursuing us, if you didn't see it! They had _weapons!_ They're not even supposed to own those!" Bloo grumbled, he seemed to be more disturbed by the fact that the villains had something he couldn't have rather than the pursuit itself.

"They were fake… haven't you noticed?" the octopus noticed, cocking his head in surprise. He took something from the ground with one of his tentacles, an object Mac and Bloo soon realized was one of the rounds fired by one of the Princesses' pistol… a foam dart.

"…what?" Bloo wasn't expecting this response, but he didn't expect even what Mac said afterwards as well, "Uhmmm… yes, I know it… But…"

"Why the heck haven't you told me anything about it?" Bloo shouted, "Ya telling me we've been escaping from three imaginary friends with some _toys_ at hand?"

"They weren't simply some imaginary friends! They were _villains!_ Haven't you seen the look in their eyes! I was not letting them get me, thank you very much!" Mac replied in annoyance.

"Ha! If I were you, I would have taken on them easily!"

"…yeah, fat chance of that happening given you've escaped from them just because they had a bunch of toys looking like weapons in their hands."

"I did not have the time to notice that! Excuse me if you shrieked, 'RUN', like a scared little… girl?"

Mac raised in eyebrow. Bloo had modified his tone for the word _girl,_ and was at the moment staring at something… right behind him.

"Bloo?"

"Mac, I think that friend here has some _interest_ in you…" Bloo stated, a grin starting to appear on his face. Mac turned to face the intruder, his mood wasn't the best and he really hoped whoever had distracted Bloo wasn't going to ask anything-

He froze when he found that in front of his face, just five centimetres away… was the face of an imaginary friend. A girl. A _Powerpuff_ Girl. The _blonde_ one to be precise.

Mac began to shudder in fear. Bubbles was staring at him, right into his eyes, with a look that, apparently, was devoid of any emotion. She just looked at him and anything else. The boy could hear the snickers the blob behind him was trying to keep in, but those weren't important… he had a bad… _really bad_ feeling about this.

"Oh, so you've got to know Bubbles?" the pink octopus friend said as the group of imaginary walkers finally stopped and the various characters began to depart for their respective rooms, "We're still trying to decide how she'll call herself, you know, because there are at least forty more Bubbleses without a specific name like her, but she doesn't mind… Not all of those new friends are annoying as the Morebucks, Bubbles is sure nice! And I'd say she wants to befriend you, Mac!"

Mac gulped.

"Now, you'll have all the time you want to get to know Mac. He always comes to the house every day, usually during the afternoon… Don't you want to know the other members of the band?"

The imaginary Bubbles seemed like she was listening to every single word the imaginary friend was saying and noting it into her mind. That, while she still stared at Mac. The boy forced himself to smile, even though he did not want the friend at all to tell that kind of info to the girl.

She finally broke eye contact with the boy to look at the octopus, smiling, "Yeah, sure! Sorry, I'm just curious to know _everyone_ here…"

"No problem! See you again Mac! And Bloo, try not to get in more trouble, huh?" the imaginary mollusc ended as he and Bubbles left the two of them. The puff friend, obviously, continued to stare stubbornly at Mac while walking away, something that ended only when the two of them followed a turn and finally left the hallway.

Mac put his hands on his face, exhausted, in an attempt to dry some sweat from his forehead. He then frowned when Bloo eventually burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha!" Bloo chortled, "And I thought you having a crush on Frankie was funny! This is pure gold!"

"Bloo… would you please… _shut up?"_ Mac growled.

"Okey-dokey, I don't want to make you nervous when your new sweetheart is around… Or should I say sweethearts? There are lots of them around!"

… _dang._

"…forget all of this. Let's just find the others… the room isn't far from here."

"Yeah, yeah, as you wish…" Bloo agreed, even though he was visibly restraining himself from laughing again.

While they walked towards Bloo's room, trying to change the subject, Mac said, "By the way, were you alone at the arcade? …and why are you still carrying that joypad with you?"

Bloo threw a glimpse to the electronic contraption he still kept in one of his hands and scoffed, "Well, you should know that you threw me into that pursuit just after I already had to deal with some of those new imaginary friends… the idiots challenged me into some games, and they won! All of them! But they cheated, I know they cheated… stupid girls…"

"Girls? So it was more Princesses?" Mac inquired.

"No, no, it was one of those big eyed freaks… the green ones…"

"Buttercups?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever their name is! Man, Mac, it's like you're a fan of them!"

Mac almost jumped in fright, "…no! …I mean, no, of course I'm not a fan of them!"

Bloo narrowed his eyes and he watched his creator with a detective-like look… but thank goodness, they had already arrived in front of Bloo's room… just in time to see Eduardo and Coco come out of it.

"Hello guys!" Mac greeted quickly, trying to distract Bloo.

"Oh, hola, Senõr Mac and Bloo!" Eduardo said happily, followed right after by a 'Cocococo!' by the bird-like friend at his side, "How are you doing?"

"Could be better, Ed… those new arrivals just cannot seem to live without bothering us…" Mac complained.

" _Si,_ I agree. Some of those friends are real meanies! But not all of them are, thank goodness…"

"I have my doubts… What about Wilt? Did you see him?" Mac asked.

"Cococococo! Coco co. Coco!" Coco answered in her usual way.

Mac nodded, a thoughtful look on his face, "I wonder where he could be now… with all of those friends around, I must say I might even get worried."

"Oh, don't think about it, Senõr Mac, I'm sure Wilt is okay," Eduardo tried to reassure. Mac smiled at the remark… if, of all people, Eduardo was not worried, maybe he was really just overthinking about it.

"Yeah, Mac, he could have encountered one of your sweethearts instead of a villain, you know…" Bloo teased. While Eduardo and Coco exchanged an interrogative glance, Mac simply decided to ignore his companion. Sometimes he wondered if he was really the creator of Bloo.

The four of them began to walk towards the ground floor of the mansion in an attempt to look for Wilt. Their voyage, of course, didn't go as quiet as they, or to be more precise Mac, hoped to.

They first encountered a Mojo Jojo, to which the four of them widened their eyes and tried to pass forward without being seen. But the Mojo Jojo limited himself to wave hastily at Mac, muttering some 'extremely important evil plans that I do not have neither the time nor the will to share with you all' before leaving them. It was the same one that had helped Mac the day before when the PPG themed friends had first arrived, so the boy did a quick explanation to his friends about this particular Mojo Jojo.

"Wow, really intriguing Mac, now you're befriending the enemy…" Bloo grunted.

"Well, he does seem at least willing not to harm us… not all the villains are bad, after all!" Eduardo exclaimed, clapping his paws.

"Cocococo… Coco…." Coco said with an unconvinced look.

"He's at least one less to worry about, Coco. What if he was… he was one of-"

"He was US!"

The four friends suddenly stopped their movement and when they realized who had interrupted their talk, they knew they had to choose carefully their next words.

Because Brick of the Rowdyruff Boys was easily angered… and there were currently _four_ red capped boys in front of them.

"Look, look who we have here… If it isn't our favourite best friend there…" Brick One taunted as he looked right at Mac, no matter how hard the boy tried to convince himself he wasn't referring to him.

_Why are all the villain imaginary friends targeting ME?!_

Brick Three smirked at Mac's visible fear, while Brick Four said, "Why, he really needs to behave! Why don't we tell him how to do so?"

"Just yesterday I tried with Boomer and Butch to give him a good lesson… but the other idiots didn't let us do it. Now, however, the situation is much more different…" Brick Two added, glaring at Mac like a lion would do to an escaped antelope.

The four leaders began to walk slowly towards Mac… no way they were going to let anyone or anything stay between them and him now!

So they only got angrier when they saw Coco stomp into their path, blocking their line of view.

"Hey, birdy palm, why won't you let us deal with our old acquaintance behind you?" Brick One warned, "We don't want anyone else to get hurt..."

"Cocococo Cocococo!" Coco squeaked. She wasn't intimidated at all by the four Rowdyruffs in front of her... something that did not apply to the other four imaginary friends that were supposed to be Mac's allies.

Thus, Coco turned and fired her most fierce glare towards Eduardo, who shook in fear. He was frightened by the four Bricks… but he was more frightened by the angered Coco, so he slowly walked to Coco's right side. Brick One, Two and Three laughed at the scene… but Coco wasn't done yet. She turned to Bloo, who did not look like he wanted to join them.

"Cocococo cococo coco!"

"What? I'm not going to get involved, period. Besides, Mac should learn how to defend himself…"

"COCOCOCOOO!"

"Oh, all right, all right! I'll do it! Jeez…"

Unwilling, Bloo walked to Coco's left side. And now it was effectively a 4vs4 match, as Mac mustered all the courage he could find and marched in front of his three companions.

"I'm sick of your fooling around!" Mac said, "There's no way you can live in the house without respecting the imaginary friends around you, so change your behaviour… or _else!"_

"Else? I… I…" Brick Two chuckled, and the other three quickly followed him. "Listen to him! Like we _care!"_

Their looks suddenly changed as they prepared to brawl, "Don't tell us we didn't warn you, darlings…"

But a moment before they could clash, a scream was heard, and the Bricks froze themselves.

"…Blossom?" one of them whispered. "Blossom! It's Blossom! Come on guys, that might be worth watching!"

And just like that, the four Bricks left Mac and his friends in disbelief, having completely forgotten about the four of them. Bloo and Eduardo sighed in relief as Coco shook her head, but Mac was actually as much interested as the Bricks were… though not for the same reason.

"We should go… there may be someone who needs help there…" Mac stated. Eduardo and Coco nodded, while Bloo just had to follow them as he was the only one left… together, they quickly moved and in no time reached the source of the commotion.

The four Bricks were entrapped in the show and acted like they didn't exist. They were hiding behind a turn, thus preventing the arguers in front of them from detecting their presence.

An army of not four, but _ten_ Blossoms was talking, or to be more precise, shouting, as on the other side a Fuzzy Lumpkins, one different from the one who had greeted Mac earlier, roared in annoyance. And exactly between the two adversaries there was no other than Frankie Foster, her hair a mess and without her green pullover, trying to tranquilize both lumpkin and puffs… with scarce results.

Bloo, Mac, Coco and Eduardo approached her, slowly catching on some of the phrases the two parts were saying.

"I demand to have the lumpkin _out of the area, now!"_

"The freaking powerpuffs won't let me alone! I'd live here quietly, if only they just minded their business!"

"Lies! Fuzzy is up to no good, Miss Frances! I can _feel_ it!"

"Guys! Just be quiet, and for heaven's sake, call me Frankie!"

"Up to no good!? You annoying brats! I just want to play my _banjo,_ for crying out loud!"

"Ha! I knew it! He wants to prevent us from sleeping so we'll end up weakened by the day enough for him to catch us! Miss Frances, you have to do something!"

"…Frankie?"

The redheaded woman sighed in relief when she saw the four friends, though she kept her hands extended in order to at least _physically_ keep Fuzzy Lumpkins and the front Blossoms away from each other.

"Oh, hello guys! I'm sorry for not seeing you, I'm a bit busy here…"

"Cococo…" Coco replied as she got a look at both contestants.

"Can you tell us what the problem is?"

"Long story short, we did some errors yesterday while assigning the rooms, and today those problems are slowly coming up… this one is only the last that came up. We gave this Fuzzy a room near at least thirty Powerpuff Girls, but at first it seemed okay... until I realized that the Buttercups would just do something else and the Bubbleses have no problem with it. The Blossoms weren't convinced as you can see- hey! Keep your distance!"

"Moving Fuzzy isn't an option? Seems simple to me…" Bloo asked.

"If only it was that easy, Bloo. The only viable room for Fuzzy are single rooms, as he is way too much antisocial to live with others, and this is one of the few ones viable. Most of the others are occupied by other Fuzzies or are in even worse situations… like living near some Rowdyruff Boys."

Mac heard some laughing behind, but he decided to ignore it. He watched the ceiling, deep in thought. That was one big of a problem…

"Those girls are _scary…_ They seem very angry!" Eduardo commented.

"Cocococo coococo…" Coco informed.

"WHAT!" Eduardo shouted before attempting to hide behind the bird, "They did _that?"_

"Cococo cococooo," Coco explained with a roll of her eyes, apparently the other imaginary friend had misheard her statement.

"I hope that was really just a cartoon _…"_ Eduardo whispered, his eyes closed.

Bloo was untouched. He did not want to help Frankie, he did not want to solve the matter between the eleven themed imaginary friends, he only wanted to get as far as possible from the huge noise the Blossoms and the lumpkin were able to emit. A desire that was unexpectedly going to be fulfilled soon.

Mac heard some footsteps, and before he could do anything about it, the four Bricks made their grand appearance.

"Ahem! Attention, powderpuffs and caveman!" Brick One called, instantly gaining the full, and furious, attention of both sides. Hard to say who was angrier at the sight of the four red eyed boys, the pink eyed girls or the pink furred beast. "We may have something here that could be interesting for you!"

Brick Three drew out an object. Fuzzy eyes went red as soon as he realized what it was.

His banjo.

"JO!" Fuzzy bellowed as he charged forward, claws drawn out to reclaim his stolen property. The four Bricks ran away in retreat, laughing all the way.

"Hey! Come here, we were almost finished, I thought of something!" Frankie called as he followed the lumpkin. The Blossoms followed the runners almost instantly, half because they wanted to get Frankie's attention and keep the lumpkin under their sight, the other half because they just wanted to beat the Bricks to dust.

All of them… except for one single Blossom. She stood alone as she watched the pursuers and pursued run away together, until they disappeared behind the turn. She shook her head in disappointment, "Just as I thought… incredibly lack of logistics. I may have to write a public protest for the owners… I just hope that Fuzzy gets what he deserves."

She, thus, got a look at Mac and the other three imaginary friends, who were immobile, too much dazed to react to the escalation. "Hey, you three. I noticed your group around yesterday, and if you're interested, I saw your tall friend somewhere in the lowest one of the party chambers, or whatever they are. If I were you, I'd go check him out… he seemed to be quite frightened."

That said, and without waiting for an answer, Blossom walked away, mumbling something about anti-lumpkin plans, keeping Buttercup under control, and general moaning about the house.

…

…

"…may I suggest to go get Wilt and pretend nothing happened here?" Mac proposed.

" _Si._ "

"Coco."

"Sounds good."

* * *

In less than five minutes, they reached the big chamber they were looking for. It wasn't hard to find out that the Blossom had not lied to them.

Wilt was currently sitting at the centre of the stage, knees upwards and lone arm around his legs. A Mojo Jojo wasn't needed to understand there was something wrong, so ten seconds after Mac, Eduardo, Coco and Bloo were already at his sides.

"Wilt? Is everything all right?" Mac asked.

"Oh? Oh, hello, Mac… uuhh, yeah, of course, why you ask?"

Coco raised one interrogative eyebrow as Eduardo said, "Nuh-uh. I recognize it when there's something wrong in a friend. What happened? Something to do with the new imaginary friends?"

Wilt let himself fell backwards to the ground before answering, "Yeah… I'm in really big trouble… I've been challenged to do a basket match against some of the new imaginary friends."

"Well, doesn't seem like a big deal. You're, like, the best basketball player at Foster's…" Bloo stated.

"Bloo, it's about the _friends._ Five, green-eyed girls! You've not seen their faces, how they were serious about it… it was like they wanted to eat my guts! I tried to reason to them, to say 'I'm sorry, but I'm not interested', but they wouldn't listen!"

 _Buttercups… I've not met one yet face-to-face, but I'm already feeling some kind of dislike towards them…_ Mac thought.

"I've talked a bit with one of the blue-eyed girls, Wilt, and yeah, she's confirmed those girls are the most problematic ones… but they aren't really bad… I don't think you have to worry," Eduardo reassured.

"…yeah, maybe you're right… but how can we be sure? I heard one of them talk to her two sisters once, telling them how she managed to send an entire Rowdyruff gang running for their lives, alone!"

Eduardo opened his mouth without emitting a single word, his eyes now full of fright.

Bloo was bored by these phrases, "Puah, Wilt, seriously, how can you be scared? They're just imaginary friends, and one made up to be five years old girls… even though those girl are supposed to have superpowers and are used to face the worst of the worst…"

"Bloo, you're not helping!" Mac scolded as Wilt's lips trembled.

The blue blob scoffed but remained silent as Mac continued, "I'm sure you'll be all right, Wilt… besides, it'll just be a simple match, isn't it?"

Wilt nodded, though it was clear he wasn't sure about it. "Good! Now let's go before we encounter-"

The door to the chamber was slammed open as Mr. Herriman hopped in, followed by two identical Professor Utoniums.

_NOT. JINX. IT. FOR. CRYING. OUT. LOUD!_

"This may be the hardest one to install the system in. What do you say, gentlemen?" Mr. Herriman asked.

"No, I don't think it's going to be a problem. We can use those metal panels on the ceiling to support the wires, and the cameras wouldn't be a problem. As for the system itself, I can think of a few positions there in the centre…" Professor Utonium One explained.

"Excellent. Excellent!" Mr. Herriman exulted, he was almost happy… _almost._

"Oh, young Masters! Come, I think it is fair for all imaginary friends to come and be aware of the new addition coming to this home."

When the group was fully in front of him, Mr. Herriman began, "The fine Masters at my sides are actually well-trained engineers, and they share most of the guests of this home complaints about the current situation. Therefore, they came to my office and proposed me to add the P.S.S. to Foster's Home!"

"Also known as the Problem Solving System! The definitive solution for every kind of problem, silliness or request that may happen at Fosters!" Professor Utonium One announced, he was definitely proud of himself.

"You see, my good friends, the P.S.S. consists of a series of electronically linked devices that ne, my fine colleague here and a group of additional volunteers will install all around the house. The devices range to everything you can think of: food dispensers, security cameras and _effectors,_ controllers, and such. All the instruments work together, communicating and exchanging information thanks to a series of calculators which…"

The highly scientific speech had been started and there was no stopping it now. Mac dropped himself to the ground as he sighed and put a hand over his forehead.

_How we're going to survive the entire week?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story was originally, more or less, supposed to be a collection of chapters not really linked to each other, where there would have been random gags and so on. But, as I've soon come to realize, that is something I am unable to do in a decent way, thus making me go for a more standard scheme where there is some type of plot getting the story forward, or as in this case, there are multiple mini-stories happening at the same time. I hope I have made a good decision about the structure... we shall see.


	3. Day Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to get this story done. Far too much time has passed since the last update.
> 
> The current plan is to do updates more consistently over time, trying to not do the mistake of rushing while at the same time not leaving the story dead for more than half a year like I did. I expect the fanfic to be completed before next autumn, but hopefully that will happen much sooner.

* * *

**TUESDAY**

* * *

 

Inside Foster's large kitchen, chaos was law. And that was true no matter how hard Frankie Foster tried to keep everything organized.

The sudden increase in the number of foster imaginary friends had the direct effect of doubling, if not tripling, the food needs of the population. From that fact, the necessity of more work for the meals was expected, but Frankie had soon realized that simply getting more imaginary friends to help her wasn't going to solve the problem.

"Eduardo! Watch those dishes, do not let them burn out! Wilt! Get me some spice, or we'll have another round of Mojo-logue to hear like yesterday! CHEESE, GET OUT!"

"But I like cooking!" Cheese whined, yet Frankie fired at him a glare that even he could understand, even though his face kept its usual bizarre expression. When he walked away, Frankie took a second to make order in her mind, then she returned to her task.

She continued to bark orders while she tried to get everything under control, but there were simply too much imaginary friends in the kitchen to keep track of. And they were barely enough to prepare lunch for all the other friends.

Trying to ignore the food remnants that were beginning to accumulate around, Frankie marched through the kitchen, avoiding the friends walking around with full plates, and she gave a glance to the crowd awaiting in Foster's dining room through the doors' glass.

As usual, the centre table was occupied almost to the max with common imaginary friends, save for the thirty volunteers that were with her. The _two_ tables on each side of the central one, filled to the brim with Powerpuff-Girls-themed imaginary friends, though, were _unusual_ to say the least.

Two additions that were a necessity, of course, since there wasn't enough space for everyone. And Frankie could already see the imaginary friends begin to get nervous. To her right side stood the table full of villains, who didn't get along with anyone, including themselves, while on the left side the so-called 'good' guys were quite noisy as well.

The redhead sighed before turning to face the friend workers and shouting, "GUYS! C'mon, we don't have time to lose! Let's get over this, on with the first course, NOW!"

An instant later, Frankie stormed into the dining room, followed by Wilt and three additional imaginary friends, their hands full with dishes composed of stews. Calmly, they began to distribute the food, being cautious at doing the three tables evenly.

_We don't want another food fight like yesterday… we DON'T!_

But already things were getting fierce.

"Hey! Get over here, I'm starving! Can't ya see it?!" a Buttercup complained.

"Ignore the idiotic puff's babbling! You, Francis Foster, will gave me, Mojo Jojo, the precedence I deserve!" an imaginary ape retorted.

"Now, that's rude!" of all the good-sided imaginary friends, one of the most similar to their cartoon counterparts was the only Ms. Keane present, "You should say you're sorry at once!"

The chortle of a series of Rowdyruff Boys was heard as a Fuzzy Lumpkins replied, "Yeah right! Ain't that cute!"

Frankie saw one of the non-themed imaginary friends watch her with pleading eyes. She _couldn't_ let the new arrivals get into a fight again.

She heard Mr. Herriman's reprimands, but she already knew of their uselessness, as they had proved to be the day before. Thus, she stomped towards the nearest wall, got the interphone in her hands and took a long gust of air.

**"SILEEEENCE!"**

Suddenly, it was _silence._ Now that the attention of every living or imaginary being was on her, Frankie raised a hand and uttered, "We cannot continue on like this. If we end up like yesterday, today's lunch will be a disaster as well… So, please, just _ignore_ each other if you can't stand the others!"

"Why should we, woman?" the same Fuzzy Lumpkins as before fired back, standing up, "You wouldn't expect us just to pretend the darn Powerpuffs don't exist, do ya!?"

Frankie walked towards the imaginary friend. The look in her eyes was enough to make the Fuzzy Lumpkins gulp.

"No, that's not needed. But you'll _behave…_ or you'll all leave this table without a single bite!"

Everyone groaned and remained quiet. Even the imaginary lumpkin lowered his head and got back into his seat.

Satisfied, Frankie cleaned the sweat out of her forehead and walked towards her own place in the centre table, near Mr. Herriman and Madame Foster. She crossed ways with Wilt, who winked at her, and she smiled back. _At least there's someone who actually doesn't want everything to go in shambles._

"I must admit, Miss Frances, while your method was quite singular and I wouldn't use it myself, but you got a result indeed." Mr. Herriman complimented as she sat down.

"I'm proud of you, Frankie dear," Madame Foster continued on, "Not everyone would have had the force to get all the guys here under control!"

"Thanks… but I'd prefer to not relax. You know what happened yesterday…" Frankie said while she ate the stew.

"Oh, don't mention it! It was the first day together, and we're off to a good start today!" Madame Foster's mood was always contagious, and Frankie couldn't help but grin. "I hope you're right, grandma."

Not even five seconds after Frankie said that sentence, the lights went off. It wasn't that much of a deal since it was lunchtime and all the windows were opened, but the event was still surprising and given the size of the Dining Room the change of lighting was easily noticed by everyone.

_Now what?_

"What happened?"

"I swear, if that's Bloo again and one of his pranks, I'll get his head!"

"Go accuse someone else! Wasn't me!"

"I demand an explanation!"

"I'm scared, Blossom!"

"I'm scared too, Coco!"

"Cocoooo…."

"Oh, brother…"

"Yes, Butch?"

_BONK!_

Before the friends could continue with their guesses on the event, the lights went on again… only this time, they were _red…_ deep, red light that invaded every corner.

Frankie stood up, and she noticed some of the friends of all groups tense up in fear. She was far from being frightened though.

A red mist suddenly appeared, and almost nobody questioned the possible fact that it was concert mist coloured by the light itself. Slowly, a creepy being made its way out of the mist.

Eduardo fainted and most of the non-themed imaginary friends shuddered in fear as Him casually walked towards them, his lobster pinchers opening and closing continuously.

The (apparent) demon stopped right in front of a poor imaginary friend who was visibly trembling. _"What?"_ Him said with his feminine tone, _"Haven't you ever seen somebody like- AAAEEEYYEE!"_

The magic was suddenly broken in a thousand pieces. The mist cleared in the air and escaped through the windows while Wilt had already started to get red paper folds away from the lights, restoring them to their previous colour.

And here the Him was, with Frankie Foster having a hard, and _painful,_ hold on one of his ears.

" _Ouch! Ow! Watch it!"_ theHim complained, but he only gained a tightening on the hold that made him ultimately shut up. Frankie pulled him to his proper seat and left the hold on his ear only when he properly sat down.

"What did we say about _grand-entrances?_ This is lunch time, and you'll let everyone eat in peace!"

"But I was just trying to- Okay, okay!" the Him quickly agreed when Frankie froze him with a glare. When she walked away, laughter erupted from around the table.

"Ha, 'Him', that's comedy gold! Didn't know you were so good at it!" Fuzzy Lumpkins roared as he cackled. The Him decided not to answer, grabbed a fork that was basically made for his pinchers and concentrated on his stew.

 _That's sealed…_ Frankie thought, _we're almost to the second course now. Grandma's right, we can do it!_

Frankie made a signal to his volunteers and the group returned to the kitchen to resume their work. There was another group of imaginary friends, led by the green imaginary friend with big moustaches, who had previously been cooking, and only a minute later they were returning to the dining room. After distributing the dishes made of various types (depending on the choices made by the various imaginary friends) Frankie moved towards her seat, only to be stopped by a scream.

"EEEWWWW!"

"Gross!"

"Disgusting!"

"Inexplicably and undoubtfully revolting!"

"Get it off my tongue, get it off!"

_*COFF* … *COFF*_

Frankie couldn't do anything as the coughing continued and the protests became angrier. She watched around until she located the friend who was in charge of the cooking and rushed to him.

"Yogi Boo Boo, what did you _do?!"_

"I don't know, Frankie! I'm sorry, don't give me _that_ look!" the friend explained, shielding his face from the possible wrath of the redhead.

"I'm not going to do anything to you, but you _have_ to tell me NOW! Before we lose control of the situation!" Frankie requested.

"I don't know, I told you! I got some imaginary friends to help with the cooking, that's all. Some of the new ones as well, but they seemed to know what they were doing all!"

Frankie opened her eyes in shock.

"…new ones?"

"Yep! The fine little _girls_ to be precise. Why?"

Frankie put a hand over face. Defeated, she could just stare as a Buttercup screamed "FOOD FIGHT!" and around her everything went to pandemonium.

* * *

Mac walked towards Foster's front porch slowly. He was almost scared by the prospect of encountering one of the themed friends by now… and that wasn't exclusive to the villains. Thankfully his fears didn't become reality and he was able to at least make his way to the door unscathed.

He knocked on it only to find it opened almost instantly by Madame Foster herself. "Oh, hello, dear! Nice to see you!"

"Madame Foster! Wow, I didn't think you of all people would open the door for me!"

"Ah, I'd actually be relaxing in my own room but poor Herriman is nearly going nuts. My bunny needs some support or else he will lose it for good!"

The short woman's words didn't show any sign of annoyance or anything like that. On the contrary, she seemed _amused,_ but Mac wasn't happy about the news. Surely, the morning had not been one of the best ones for his friends.

He began making his way to the stairs only to have his sight captured by the scene inside the dining room.

The previous events had changed the dining room in what was comparable to a battlefield. The filth and the garbage was in every space that could be occupied and a group of imaginary friends was currently busy trying to fix the chaos.

Mac walked in, not surprised. He already had an idea about what could have happened and what could have caused it.

"Hello, Mac! I'm sorry but we're all with our hands full and I cannot get down to greet you," Wilt said when he saw him. The tall imaginary was making use of his height as he tried to clean the ceiling from stew stains.

"Don't worry, Wilt, I won't disturb you," Mac replied. He glanced around and noticed that some themed imaginary friends were at work as well: a group of Powerpuff Girls was in the process of removing the litter from a section of the floor, while a tall Ms. Bellum-looking friend emptied the table from the dishes, be they in one piece or not. He noticed her firing some glares at the girl-looking friends. _And that's another one who isn't happy with the situation as well._

"Just wanted to ask, Wilt, what about the others?"

"We're all here on cleaning duty, Mac. Check the kitchen, I believe you may found Coco, Ed and Bloo there with Frankie."

Nodding, Mac waved at the basketball player imaginary friend and zigzagged around the room, trying to not step on something he didn't want to, until he reached the doors and pushed against them to enter the kitchen. There he found a more coordinated form of chaos, not too dissimilar from what he had seen the months before… just denser.

Even the argue going on in front of him wasn't out of the ordinary.

"That's it! I'm going to strike!" Bloo cried, flailing his hands in the air.

"Bloo, please, be mature for once! We chose together who'd help with the cleaning, you cannot just ignore that!"

"Bogus! You even said you did that _randomly,_ which is even more infuriating! I don't see _me_ causing the commotion back there, and now I'm here cleaning up something I didn't even have a part in!?"

"Coco cocoo. Cocococo!"

"Please, Coco, you know very well I couldn't just stand there without doing anything! That would have been bad for my _reputation._ Yet, it's still true that it wasn't me causing it!"

Frankie was exasperated. "For crying out loud, Bloo, stop being a child and do your part. I'm already having a hard time with the _new_ imaginary friends all around the house!"

"Yeah, Bloo, we definitely don't need your protesting right now, Foster's has already a good enough amount of problems without your help," Mac added in, startling everyone but Bloo himself.

The blue blob scoffed at his creator's remark, "Even you, Mac, agree with these slavers!? I'm surely not going to listen to a traitor like yourself! I'm off!"

Bloo marched away and disappeared behind a door. Frankie let out a disgruntled cry and sat down on a chair, putting her hands on her face, despondent.

"I just can't… I don't know..." she stuttered. To Mac, she really looked like she was desperate, and the boy didn't need an explanation about the cause. Frankie was doing everything she could to satisfy everyone's needs and keep everything not by the rules like Mr. Herriman would have wanted, but working. It was tough, though, to do so with the population of imaginary friends more or less doubled, and she was starting to accuse the fatigue.

"Come on, Señora Frankie, it's just Señor Bloo being himself. You're doing everything you can," Eduardo said, putting a paw over her shoulder.

"Coco cocococococo…" Coco agreed.

"Eduardo and Coco are right, Frankie," Mac said, making the redhead raise her head to face him, "Bloo is being Bloo and you already have a whole lot to deal with regarding the new guests. I'll follow him and stop him from getting into more trouble."

Frankie sighed. "Maybe you're right… I just hope we'll get to the end of the week alive… Thanks, Mac. Try to stop him from _causing_ trouble as well."

He smiled before replying, "No problem." He waved at her and the two imaginary friends, then he left the chamber in order to follow Bloo. Right after moving back into the foyer, he heard his best friend's cries in the distance.

_Already?_

The boy ran thorough two hallways and threw himself into one of the numerous living rooms that were found inside Foster's, but he already knew he was too late even before seeing his best friend ranting about something in front of a group of Powerpuff Girls.

 _At least they're not villains,_ Mac thought as he approached cautiously the group. Bloo was too much concentrated on his speech to see him, while the imaginary girls had their backs to Mac. A lucky situation for the boy, since he wanted to have Bloo solve his issue without starting a fight and at the same time _not_ being seen by the blue-eyed ones, of which he counted five. _Far too much._

"There's no way I'll let ya' all get this TV all for yourself, you hear me! There are quality programs to see much better than the dumb trash ya' girls like so much!" Bloo bellowed in one of his most prideful protests, ignoring the facts that the Bubbleses were giggling, the Buttercup were rolling their eyes and the Blossoms were sighing.

He stopped for a second when he finaly saw Mac behind the girls, but before he could say his name the boy hushed him with a gesture, before starting to make hand signals. Mac wanted to suggest him what to do, but of course, the blue blob couldn't understand nothing of what he was implying.

"So, that's the reason you should all go down! I mean, down with the volume, and since you aren't that tall that shouldn't even be a problem… Or maybe it will, for me, or not!"

Realizing that he was basically talking nonsense, Bloo groaned in defeat before uttering, "Forget about what I just said, I'll get another room, but no thanks to you!"

He solemnly walked away trying to look offended and acting like the girls weren't even giggling at him. Mac had already hastily returned to the hallway, so he moved out of the living room to meet with him.

"Mac, you owe me one! Now c'mon and let's get the TV on the other floor before some stupid flower girl gets there before us again..."

"What?! I just stopped you from getting into trouble!"

"Trouble? For crying out loud, you distracted me while I was near to finish my logical speech! Not even the green-eyed jerks would have been able to retort!"

"Bloo, I sincerely doubt that what you were saying was _logical,_ and even if it was, they probably wouldn't have accepted it anyway."

Bloo glared at him with an irate gaze but Mac wasn't fazed. He was far more worried by the fact he had been almost been seen by the Powerpuffs… specifically the 'bubbly' ones. The blonde puffs had been continuing to stare at him every time he encountered them the previous them and he found it creepy to say the least.

The two of them reached the foyer again and started going up the stairs. They crossed paths with various imaginary friends, both themed and non-themed, who didn't exchange a look with them at all. The tension had been nothing but raising as the hours had passed, and Mac knew the situation was getting more difficult.

He tried to reason with Bloo to bring him back to Frankie, but he was adamant to his requests. Rolling his eyes, Mac accepted the fact that his friend was once again escaping chores and settled on following him to prevent him from causing more havoc than needed.

The first living room they found was literally full of Rowdyruff Boys and even Bloo was wary from trying to butt in and _demand_ the TV. The second one at first appeared free, but when they entered a figure on the sofa got out to greet them.

The figure of a Mojo Jojo wasn't the best possibility for the two of them, but the imaginary chimp opened both his hands before they could say anything: "Halt. I have no interest in messing with the two of you. After all, that wouldn't play any role in my plans."

Bloo momentarily forgotten about the fact there was a villain in front of him and blurted out, "The TV is mine!" before leaping over the sofa and clutching the remote in his tubby hands, "My treasure…"

Mojo Jojo didn't even turn back to glare at the blob. "Do as you wish, imaginary liquid. The programs airing here continue to be too low in content to be of any use to me in any case."

He then turned his attention to Mac and motioned him to follow him. Mac tilted his head in confusion, but the Mojo Jojo didn't wait for him to confirm and went straight to a table on the side of the room, just below a window, where he sat down. Puzzled, Mac followed him and sat straight in front of him.

"As much as I hate to give information around to someone besides myself, _you,_ boy, are perhaps one of the few between regulars and inhabitants of this house who seems to at least acknowledge what is idiotic and what is not."

"Wait, you still are the same Mojo Jojo who helped my last Sunday? And the one we also met for a moment yesterday? I'm Sorry, I didn't recognize you now!"

"Do not be sorry, not to me, Mojo Jojo!" the friend shouted, "As I am still a genius who has interest in nothing but the conquest of the world!"

"Okay, easy, I didn't want to insult…" Mac quickly said. He didn't want to get on his nerves, despite his villainous plans… even though, in the real world, those plans were a bit pathetic.

"Mmh-mmh. Let's forget about this. The number of Powerpuff Girls roaming around the house are indeed a thorn in my side, but there is something far more troubling that is preparing behind the curtains."

Mac leaned in. "Behind the curtains? What are you talking about?"

"I mean, young human, that someone out there is already plotting in the shadows. Since it is in my interest to keep the order in this foster home needed to let me brainstorm my plans in peace and quiet, I find a common target between the two of us. The conspirators are waiting for the right moment to strike, and you, your friends and everyone in this house should prepare for what is bound to happen... something far more concerning than the so called 'food-fight' chaos of the last two lunches."

Mojo Jojo moved his hands to highlight his speech while he talked. "Unfortunately, not even I, Mojo Jojo, have been able to discover more than the proof that this upcoming hazard does indeed exist. I have no idea who may be behind it, nor do I know what exactly we're going to face, which is infuriating to admit! …I will try to find out more clues, but you may investigate yourself. We have to act first, or else, the situation might reach a tipping point after which there won't be no going back."

Mac was completely sure that the friend in front of him was a bit exaggerating things. The Mojo-friend was talking about something that was preposterous: who could be interested in causing this type of danger at Foster's? Yet, Mac found himself thinking. And soon the thinking became worrying.

_Maybe I should tell the others about it…_

* * *

Frankie Foster was by now waiting in front of Mr. Herriman's office. After two long hours trying to clean up the mess in the dining hall, the redhead had just had the time to thank the imaginary friends that had helped and take a breath before the annoying, formal voice of Mr. Herriman had requested her presence in his office. He had, however, also asked for her to wait since he had some _important matters_ to finish first.

Frankie knew that every minute was valuable… there was no way to know what ruckus the themed imaginary friends were causing right now. As if on cue, the door to Herriman's office shot open, to reveal not the imaginary rabbit… but two tall silhouettes.

"I'm sincerely amazed by your genius, colleague!" Professor Utonium One exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm flattered! Even more since it is, indeed, another genius making the compliment!" Professor Utonium Two responded. The two of them chuckled, acting like their humour was spot on. Frankie rolled her eyes but preferred not to make a comment she would later regret saying.

Mr. Herriman hopped beside the two Utoniums and went right to the point, "Miss Frances, as the responsible for most of the chores and logistics management in the house, you may want to accompany us. The two fine Masters here have just finalized the last touches to their incredible invention that will soon put an end to most of our problems."

Professor Utonium One launched himself in a long explanation as they began to walk. The second one sometimes added in his two cents while Mr. Herriman limited himself to nod, approving everything they were saying. Frankie nodded as well, though absently. She wasn't even trying to understand what they were saying since they seemed to be trying hard to use the most complex and specific words possible. She managed to catch something about 'security system', 'auto solver' and 'end of chaos'.

To be frank, she was open to everything that could help Foster's from turning into a combination of a stampede, a metal concert and a riot.

They entered what appeared to be one of the largest rooms of the mansion, the one usually used for parties or theatre showcases. Professor Utonium Two explained their will: "In this room we have installed the first version of the PSS. We should already have our volunteers here ready to test… oh here they are! Girls!"

A group of Powerpuff Girls went to greet them, two imaginary friends for every colour. Beside them was an imaginary friend with one eye: he was no other than Jackie Khones! And completing the group was a lone Princess Morebucks.

"I sincerely hope I'm not wasting my time here…" Jackie Khones affirmed, unimpressed.

"Tell me about it! I sure hope that I'm gonna get the jet rockets I was promised after this is over, or something _bad_ may happen!" the Princess Morebucks threatened, even though she wasn't at all that threatening. She grumbled when she heard the girls around her giggle, while Jackie Khones remained unimpressed.

"It's time to get into action!" Professor Utonium One announced. He materialized a weird remote in one of his hands and pressed a button. "Now, Princess, would you please get to those chairs and… make some noise?"

The Princess frowned but nonetheless followed the order. She went to one of the numerous chairs lined in front of the stage, picked one up and throw it away as best as she could. The chair fell, making a whole lot of noise, but it remained undamaged.

"Hey, that wasn't bad. I might get used to- what?" the Princess said to herself before a trapdoor shot open out of nowhere from the floor ahead of her. A contraption bolted out of it and before the imaginary brat could squeal in surprise she was gripped by a mechanical arm.

Ignoring the friends' protests, Professor Utonium Two clapped his hands, "Behold the PSS's potential! This is only one of the few mechanisms that are part of the system. Every possible threat for the order is registered in the AI, and the PSS will know what gadgets to use! Now see how the system will gently release our rascal volunteer away from the place and-…"

The mechanical arm didn't move and the Princess Morebucks remained blocked in its grasps despite her efforts to break free. The Powerpuff Girls present were already laughing while Jackie Khones had a more serious stare. He gave a glance to Frankie that was tell-tale on his opinion.

_I don't like where this is going._

It was sad for Frankie to realize she shared that thought. But more worrying was how the thought proved to be more and more valid as the situation escalated.

"Uhmm, seems like a… minor bug, I'd say. Don't worry, my friends! The PSS is programmed even for this kind of possibilities!" Professor Utonium One reassured before clicking a series of buttons on his remote. Princess was released instantly… only to be suddenly targeted by five more contraptions, what seemed to be water turrets emitting firefight-grade sprays of water.

The Powerpuff Girls were convulsing on the ground, struggling to breathe in their laughter. One of the two Buttercups managed to say, "This is gold! Professor, you should take this kind of thing and put it all over the-…" before she was cut short by a trapdoor opening under her, throwing her away. A crane appeared, carrying what seemed to be a hunting net, and a moment later the girls were entrapped into it.

The 'Problem Solving System' went completely out of control as more contraptions appeared and began to either annoy the occupants of the room more and more, fight each other or destroy whatever object they found. Frankie sprinted towards the Powerpuff Girls with the purpose to help them out but her dash came to a stop when another crane shot up, this time from the ceiling, detached itself from the mechanism over it and crashed in front of the redhead. Jackie Khones had its own portion of problems as well, since he was trying not to get grabbed by the various mechanical hands that roamed around.

The Professors watched each other in deep thought, then they glanced to the imaginary rabbit beside them. Mr. Herriman was shocked, to the point where his eyes were completely open and immobile while he stared at the very opposite situation from the one he had desired. His monocle had fell to the ground and he had not realized it yet.

He felt a hand over his shoulder and he turned his head to face one of the two Utoniums. "Don't worry my friend, there's a Plan B for this type of hindrance as well!"

"…and that would be…?" Mr. Herriman managed to babble.

" _RUN!"_

* * *

Wilt, Eduardo and Coco had just finished their cleaning work in the dining room. The three of them were walking in the foyer talking about what to do when they heard noises coming from deep in the house.

"Coco cooo…" Coco said in a way that could be interpreted as a disgruntled sigh.

"I'm not really sure I want to know what's going on out there…" Eduardo quivered.

"I'm sorry guys, but I don't think that's a good idea. We should go check out, who knows what kind of trouble the others are in."

"Hey, kids!"

 _Kids?_ Wilt wondered, _there are no kids at Foster's except for Mac, and now he's not around. Unless…_

The three imaginary friends whirled around and found no other than kindergartener teacher Ms. Keane in front of them. Or at least the imagined version of her who kept calling everyone but Frankie 'kids'.

"Sorry for asking for your time, but I'm trying to find someone to help me outside. I'm trying to get most of the other imaginary friends to behave but, being basically only me doing so, that's easier said than done!"

"Sorry, Señora, but we already have to… oh," Eduardo began, only to realize he was denying help to go to deal with something far more worrying.

"Cococo cococococococo…" Coco explained, pointing towards the stairs with one of her

"I insist. There are a bunch of Rowdyruff Boys out there who are a bit too much interested in that giant cage, and the girls are being reckless as well!"

Coco remembered the image of her and the others escaping from the spider-like extremosaurus long ago, when Mac and Bloo first came to Foster's. "Cococooo…" she cooed before making a step forward, ready to follow the Ms. Keane. Eduardo gulped and remembered not only that event but even the other one where he had to fight the monstrous imaginary friends and decided it was better to risk it now than later, and walked beside Coco to show his will.

Wilt, however, remained frozen where he was. More precisely he had been fixed in place without a movement since the word 'girls' had left the imaginary teacher's lips.

"Cococo?" Coco asked, tilting her head.

"Uhhh… I think it's better if I go check out what's going on inside the house... Sorry, but we cannot leave it be!" he justified before turning on his heels and running away. Eduardo a Coco exchanged a glance but didn't say anything. Both of them knew that Wilt a precise motif for leaving them so bluntly.

The two followed the imaginary teacher out into Foster's front yard, then they walked around the mansion until they reached the part of the garden normally hidden from the road. There they saw that, indeed, there were a lot of things happening at once.

A Fuzzy Lumpkins ran around, the face red in anger but otherwise fixed to his normal size, trying to catch a group of Powerpuff Girls. The little imaginary puffs were however quick and the lumpkin was beginning to get tired. No clues about why he was pursuing them.

A random combination of Rowdyruff Boys dotted the surroundings of the extremosauruses' cage. The red-eyed ones fired orders while the blue and green-eyed ones tried their best to find a way inside or, worse, a method to open the prison.

And to end it all, an imaginary friend just a few centimetres taller than Bloo but resembling in any way to an old man complete with a monocle Mr. Herriman would have been proud of was shouting something, pointing an accusing hand toward the Rowdyruffs one moment and the lumpkin the one after. Another imaginary friend, this time a bit shorter than Wilt, with curly red hair that covered her face, did her best to calm him down.

Eduardo cringed at the sight. When Coco gave him a glance, she instantly knew that poor Ed would definitely have preferred anything to the extremosauruses' cage and the Rowdyruffs.

"Cococococo coco cococo coco!" Coco explained. Ms Keane nodded, her face was devoid of confusion and she appeared to have understood whatever the bird-plane-palm had just said, and went to meet the Ms. Bellum and the Mayor. Eduardo was used anyway to the speaking way of her friend and had caught her words as well, but he wasn't totally convinced. He might have found it more frightening, but the raging lumpkin wasn't exactly someone that could be described as 'friendly'.

"I'm a little worried… you're really sure they can just work it out themselves Coco? I can still help, if you need any-"

Eduardo swallowed down the rest of the sentence when Coco fired one of her most menacing glares at him.

He lowered his head and began walking towards the running lumpkin and the escaping puffs. Coco, satisfied with her friend's decision, moved as well and in a minute, she was in front of the enormous cage.

The conundrum would have been hard to solve for anyone else, but Coco had her own ways to get things done. She eyed the 'Rowdyruff Boy' imaginary friends climbing around the cage bars. One of the beasts inside rushed at the front and bumped into it, making the entire thing tremble, but it only had the effect to get the Rowdyruffs to snicker in amusement.

She had just the perfect idea to give the bad boys a good lesson. But before, even she had the good will to try and go with the reasoning. Maybe she could convince them…

"Cocococococococococo! Cococo cocococococo cocooco!"

Brick whirled around and saw a living combination of random things cooing below him. For some reason, he caught the gist of what she was saying… and the immediate effect was nearly making him lose his grip on the extremosaurus' cage thanks to the laughter. Butch and Boomer followed his lead quickly and soon the various clones around them did the same.

Coco narrowed her eyes at the reaction of the imaginary friends. There was the _violent_ solution as well that now tempted the imaginary friend, but lucky for them she had already thought of a good idea and Wilt had successfully convinced her in solving problems without the need to hurt ages ago…

Before she could follow up with her plan though, someone bellowed behind her. "What in tarnation are you doing, birdie? Those are the Rowdyruff Boys we're talking about, not the _Amoeba_ Boys!"

Coco turned her neck around and gave a glance to the Mayor friend behind her. The Ms. Bellum and the Ms. Keane behind him shrugged with apologizing looks.

After three seconds, she turned back and completely ignored the Mayor. She sat down, squawked a single 'Coco!' and an egg appeared under her. She then stood up and called the Rowdyruffs again.

As the dozen or so of imaginary friends directed their attention towards Coco, their now annoyed looks turned fast into eager faces. Some of them even had drool coming out of their mouths.

Coco's egg had opened itself and revealed its contents… a video game console! Of the last generation as well!

The Rowdyruffs began to make a run for it. "It's mine! It's mine!" one of the Boomers screamed. "High definition displays supported! Gimme!" a Butch shouted. "Forget about it, I'll get it first!" a red-eyed ruff cried. This Brick in particular managed to grab the console with all the cables and joypad and began to retreat for Foster's, the others in hot pursuit.

The extremosauruses inside the cage calmed down and no roars were heard. They seemed to be happy to be left alone… and Coco was glad for it. Her plan had worked and she hoped that it would keep the boys away from the beasts for some time… at least until the boys realized she had laid a cheap replica of the console with nothing but dust inside it. The bird chuckled at the thought.

She gave a glance to Eduardo, who was walking towards her with six Powerpuff Girls following him. To be precise, while the two Blossoms and the two Buttercups were walking, the two Bubbleses were sitting right on the imaginary friend's shoulders. Even Coco couldn't help but smile at the cute sight. Fuzzy Lumpkins was nowhere in sight.

She said an approving 'Coco!' to the menacing-looking imaginary friend. But before Eduardo could respond and explain how he had solved the issue between the puffs and the lumpkin, a complaining shout beat him on time.

"How disrespectful, to be ignored!" the Mayor friend exclaimed, "I request an apology!"

Coco really wasn't in the mood to argue, so she settled on saying a simple, "Cococooo…"

She didn't mean any type of insult, but the Mayor somewhat understood something else since his face turned red. "Do you really think you can make fun of me, the Mayor! Miss Bellum, this is unacceptable! Call the Powerpuff Girls!"

Miss Bellum glanced at the mentioned girls, who seemed more amused by the scene than willing to answer the 'call'. She then turned to the Mayor and shook her head.

"Oh, how I miss the days back when I could just fire a call and be served right away with my collection of pickles… yet, even if that's the past, I won't tolerate this behaviour, since I'm still the Mayor!"

Before Ms. Keane could correct the imaginary friend about his flawed logic about being 'mayor' at Foster's, he moved right in front of Coco. "We need to be settle this argue, young... err… tree!"

Coco glared back. If the guy wanted to fight, who was she to turn down? It was his decision. He would later understand how much in error he-

"We'll do it with a challenge! A bet!"

Coco blinked.

"I know that tomorrow here we'll have a great game of sorts between the imaginary friends at sports. That's we're we'll evaluate each other! I dare you, err… palm-bird-plane, to say that tomorrow the team of my Powerpuffs will lose to the other imaginary friends!"

Coco already knew what the bald imaginary friend was talking about before he even finished. He didn't seem to know the non-themed 'imaginary friends' squad was composed only by Wilt himself, but that wasn't important. Even though the tall basketball player had little hope in the eye of most of the occupants of Foster's, be they new or not, Coco was aware of how much Wilt could be good.

…and no way she was going to refuse and let the hothead in front of her accuse her of cowardice!

She extended one plane-wing while frowning. The Mayor did the same and they shook hands. Then, the monocle wearing friend walked away while lamenting about something else. "I'm sorry, but he's always been like this since we arrived here. He'll get better… someday," the Ms. Bellum apologized before following him.

"That was harsh…" Bubbles One commented.

"Yeah, I've never seen him act like that," Blossom Two added.

"That's because you've never seen him until two days ago," Blossom One corrected, earning a glare from her clone.

"I know about tomorrow's game, Eduardo," Bubbles Two said, patting the friends' back while on his shoulder. "I hope the Buttercups will be easy with your friends… at home I was alone, but I know my supposed sister wouldn't really hurt someone."

"I'd have to correct that, at home I had _three_ Buttercups as sisters and they were wreaking havoc one day and doing the same the other," Blossom One informed. "Your tall friend of yours must be very wary in my opinion…"

The two Buttercups weren't part of the group that was going to play the next day, but nevertheless they remained silent and looked away from Eduardo, who looked at them. He would have wanted to hear one of them reassure him that that wasn't true, but unfortunately none of them spoke.

"I hope Señor Wilt will be all right…" he gloomily said.

"Oh, don't worry," Miss Keane reassured, "At home I had a trio of Powerpuff Girls to manage and my Buttercup was just a bit _wild,_ but far from being mean. I'm sure it'll just be a simple match like any other!"

Coco looked down without saying anything… she had her doubts. Maybe she had to make sure Wilt was at full health by having him exercise for the rest of the day, just to be safe he would be all right… and to be safe she wouldn't have to bear the Mayor's squeals in case of a victory of his.

After briefly saying their goodbyes to the remaining imaginary friends, Coco motioned Edoardo to follow her back into Foster's to look for Wilt.

* * *

Wilt himself was currently full of problems. His idea to follow the noises soon had been foiled when he suddenly found himself surrounded. Pricess Morebucks? Not in the slightest. Mojo Jojos? They would have been easier to deal with. Lumpkins? Escaping would have been a possible choice.

But there was no escape from Buttercup Utonium. And that was even truer if there were five of them.

"Hey, see who we've stumbled upon! Our good _friend_ the tallest!" Buttercup One taunted.

"Oh, hello… sorry, but I really have to-"

"So, how ya're doing? Getting ready for tomorrow? Not that it will help you if you did, we'll kick your butt anyway…" Buttercup Two said. Three, Four and Five laughed out loud.

Wilt decided to try once again to reason with them. "I told you, you've misunderstood me! Girls, I really am sorry but I don't think I really want to-"

"Do not start that 'sorry' blabber with us. It won't work," Buttercup Three interjected. "Tomorrow we're gonna play and see if you're a good enough opponent or not! No buts, you gave your word!"

Wilt would have liked to point out that he wasn't exactly willing to do so, but he had indeed promised. There was no going back.

The Buttercups wished him good luck and left Wilt to slump against the nearest sidewall and down to the floor. "This is not okay…" he muttered. Maybe the few themed friends he had talked with were right and the Buttercups were not evil… maybe a bit mean and a bit too serious when talking about dares, but not straight _evil._

He rested his head on his only hand. For once he knew how Eduardo felt… if only he wasn't alone against the five Powerpuffs.

"Seems like someone's scared, hmm?"

The heaven had answered his prayers, but not in the way Wilt had hoped for.

He raised his head and faced four, green-eyed Rowdyruff Boys. "Scared indeed," Butch One continued, "but I think that we can actually help you out!"

Wilt raised an eyebrow, but stayed on the alert, ready to bolt away. "What do you mean?" he inquired.

"C'mon, you can be good as much as you want and tall as that, but you still don't have a chance against five 'Buttercup'. You need backup… and what better backup than us?" Butch Two explained.

Butch Three followed with a cry of excitement and began to dance around while saying, "Game! Game! Game!"

"We'll be on your side tomorrow, and we'll offer the Buttercups a match they won't forget. And as a bonus, you won't get beaten down to dust. So, how it is?" Butch Four asked. The fifth one climbed over one of Wilt's legs and stopped only when he was directly in front of Wilt's face. "How it is?" he repeated eagerly.

Wilt thought over the Butches' words. They weren't exactly friends to believe in but the situation was dire. What other solutions did he have? He was pretty much left without options. With a sigh, he nodded, and while the four ruffs partied around like it was nothing serious, Wilt hoped that he had made the right decision.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day, indeed.


	4. Day Four

* * *

**WEDNESDAY**

* * *

 

Frankie Foster walked through the hallway, giving worried glances around her. _Any moment now,_ she thought, _it should take five seconds at most…_

And on cue, exactly four seconds later, she heard someone screaming. She conceded herself a small smile before sprinting down the corridors in the direction of the sound. In the fourth day since the arrival of the Powerpuff-themed imaginary friends at Foster's, Frankie had managed to evaluate statistically how much time it took for an argue, problem or request of help to come after she dealt with the previous one. Sadly, that time was limited, therefore leaving just a bunch of minutes to the redhead to rest after dealing with the nth conflict between the imaginary friends.

Not that she wasn't beginning to get used to it at that point. This was the very first day that they had managed to get a lunch without a food-fight exploding, and in general most of the quarrels between the inhabitants of the mansion had been easily solved. It was as if the new imaginary friends were slowly beginning to accustom themselves to the new life and had understood that they couldn't live causing havoc forever.

Well, most of them.

Frankie turned around an interjection between the hallways and found herself in front of quite a scene. A group of non-themed imaginary friends stared in horror at five imaginary bullies. The one who looked like the head of the group was currently holding a poor imaginary friend who looked like a cross between a fox and a platypus by its tail, away from the ground.

No need to tell exactly _who_ the five bullies were.

"But you must tell me, little guy, how did your creator get the weird idea to combinate those two of all animals?" Ace asked, laughing. "It's a simple question, isn't it?"

"Yes, but you didn't need to pick me up! Let me go!" the fluffy platypus shouted. Ace chortled in response, without complying to his request.

"As if you can give me orders! You have quite the sense of humour! How about we show you how much we can be funny, mmmh"

The friend gulped as Snake stared at him with his reptilian-like eyes. "I have quite a lot of ideassss to play with you, sssss!"

"I have a big one! Let's get outside, this gonna be good!" Lil' Arturo said, excitedly. Grubber spluttered out something and the Gangreen Gang members laughed out loud at whatever the guy had said.

"Guuuysss…" Big Billy suddenly asked, "Do ya' think we can bring along someone else?"

Ace sighed before replying, "Billy, we've already told you, no additional friends! Who could you even want to join us no-" he nearly choked on the last word when he saw Frankie Foster by Billy's side, hands on her hips.

She had already managed to get a peculiar reputation in the previous days, and the five imaginary members of the Gangreen Gang knew better to get on her nerves.

The platypus suddenly found himself free from the grasp and he fell to ground face-first. Standing up, he glared at Ace before walking away to join the bystanders, but the leader was already full concentrated on not getting on Frankie's nerves and completely ignored him.

"Francis Foster!" Ace greeted, "How nice to see you again! Before jumping to conclusions, we were just having fun, you know! Our little friend there was playing all along," the platypus stuck out his tongue but Ace ignored it, "and we didn't want to harm or annoy anyone! Did we, guys!"

"Absolutely!"

"Sssssurely!"

"Ppprrrrrrhhh!"

"We did? I thought we-" Snake slapped Big Billy on the face, shutting him up, but Frankie didn't need the giant imaginary friend to spill it out to know what the Gangreen Gang had really been up to.

She slowly walked towards Ace as she said, "We've already talked about this, guys. We _don't need_ you to mess around with the other friends. Here at Foster's you can't just bully anyone you end up encountering!"

She raised a finger and put it right on a sweating Ace's chest. _"You..._ You will _behave._ Under my watch, you will respect all the other imaginary friends, or there will be consequences! _Have I been clear?!"_

Frankie wasn't liking to raise her voice that high, effectively sounding like she was furious. Yes, more than one time the friends annoyed her, but she usually preferred to do things the diplomatic way wherever possible. By getting angry and shouting at people she already knew she wouldn't have gotten nowhere. However, the last few days had showed her that, minus a few exceptions, the sheer number of new friends and the way a lot of them weren't exactly collaborating, forced her to act like a mirror version of Mr. Herriman, who was actually intimidating while reprimanding.

The poor rabbit wasn't even around to help, since he had a sort of breakdown and was by now resting in Madame Foster's room, still trying to count the number of rules that had been ignored in his sleep while Frankie's grandma tried to comfort him. Without Herriman, Frankie had no other choice but to resort to the same rules she had despised for so long, even if she used just a little part of them.

Now she knew how Mr. Herriman really felt.

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Ace stammered in fright, "We won't hurt a fly, we promise! C'mon guys, let's go and, uh… see what's going on outside! Like you said Arturo!"

Grubber, Snake and Arturo nodded vigorously and the four of them retreated away from Frankie Foster. Big Billy stood immobile for a moment, scratched his head, then he realized he was being left behind and ran in pursuit, shouting, "Hey, wait for me!"

Frankie couldn't help but grin while watching the five rascals put as much space as possible between them and her. Yep, those imaginary friends could be annoying as much as she wanted, but they indeed were spot-on depictions of their cartoon counterparts.

She glanced at the remaining non-themed imaginary friends, who were quick to thank her for her help and to protest about how the gang had been annoying them way before she arrived. Frankie reassured them that the five brutes wouldn't return for some time… even though she reckoned they would simply change target. Sighing, she waved at the group and departed towards the laundry room, mentally preparing herself to face an enormous amount of dirty clothes.

She could just hope that whatever had been organized outside wasn't going to escalate.

* * *

Eduardo opened the door out of his room, Coco behind her, and they were surprised to find on front of them no other than Goo Goo Ga Ga.

"Hello, guys!" the girl chirped happily, "C'mon, we don't want to lose the big game!"

"Cocococo cococo?" Coco questioned.

"Of course, I talked with Mac and Bloo, they're already there waiting for us. I cannot believe I didn't know about this, we absolutely need to move, like, now! Wilt's going to give those girls a lesson they won't forget, I'm one-hundred percent sure! By the way, what's going on with all the new imaginary friends? I've seen lots of imaginary friends similar to each other, but this is beyond weird! They're all from the same TV show and most of them do not even have clear differences! Come on, a bit of creativeness wouldn't have hurt! Not to mention…"

"Cocoooo," Coco cooed in annoyance, her phrase could have been translated as 'here we go…'. Eduardo kept his smile up and tried his best to follow Goo's speech, but trying to catch on the sentences progressively became more and more difficult.

"I mean, look at _him!"_ Goo suddenly cried, pointing to a certain pink furred beast who happened to cross their path, "Big, fuzzy hillbilly with a troglodyte accent and a bad personality! They could have at least varied the colour!"

"WHAT!" Fuzzy Lumpkins roared, "What did you just say, you little-!?"

"Señora Goo, stop!" Eduardo cried, followed by Coco frantically squawking, "Cocococo! Cocococo!"

But unlike Mac and Frankie, Goo had no idea of how the Powerpuff Girls show's characters behaved, and she did the only thing she could think of. Answering.

"Big, fuzzy hillbilly, with a troglodyte accent and bad personality! And that goes leaving alone the smaller details, which are the exact same between the other… uhhh… how were you all called… lumbtins! Here, even this! With the rapid… angering… fury…" Goo was slowly beginning to realize her error as Fuzzy Lumpkins became red and his size slowly increased. "You little _brat…_ ya' going to regret what-" he suddenly stopped when his eyes fell on Eduardo.

In an instant, Fuzzy Lumpkins calmed himself down and his demeanour literally turned upside down. Laughing, he went to a terrified Eduardo and hugged him by the side.

Coco and Goo watched each other, and the bird-plane-palm shrugged.

"Ahah, ya' were going to get me, weren't you?" Fuzzy said, "But you'll have to work harder to get on my nerves, Ed!" he let him go and waved at the three of them, Goo included, like it was nothing and walked away humming some type of classic motive.

Eduardo didn't need to be asked to know that his two companions wanted an explanation. "Err… I don't know, guys. He's the same I met outside yesterday, the one that was chasing some Powerpuff friends. I have no idea why but when he saw me he must have recognized me for someone else and he acted like we'd always been friends…"

"Not surprising… You both have fur and you both look threatening…" Goo thought out loud. Coco rolled her eyes before commenting, "Cocococo cococo cocooo…."

"Yep, I guess if that's the case we shouldn't be surprised. Hey, maybe they're actually different from each other, just not from the outside!"

Eduardo nodded and the three of them resumed their path… only to be stopped five steps later.

"YOU THREE, STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The Mexican imaginary friend felt the stinging sensation of fear go through his spine… then, it was immediately replaced by confusion when he realized that in front of him there was no enraged lumpkin, furious chimp or annoyed brat.

In fact, the three 'villains' who had stopped Coco, Eduardo and Goo in their path weren't any type of pluricellular lifeform.

"You will behold the most evil, wicked crime that could possibly be imagined inside this house!" Bossman bellowed, "C'mon, Slim, do it!"

Slim watched his boss without saying a word.

"Slim…"

"But boss, isn't that against the rules?"

"WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BREAK THE RULES, you buffoon!" Bossman yelled. He hastily turned towards the shortest of the three, "Junior, take that wall phone and bring it here!"

"Wall phone?" Goo tilted her head, perplexed.

Jr. obliged and shortly after one of the microphones of the interphone system was in Slim's 'hands'. "Now, come on, Slim!"

"What I am supposed to say, boss?"

"For crying out loud, we've already gone through this! You have to say something evil!"

"Like…?"

Bossman suddenly became thoughtful. "Ahem… uhhh… ehh… YOU!"

Eduardo jumped in surprise when a pseudopodium was pointed at him, "You look like just the guy we need! Say something mean!"

The imaginary friend was simply too much surprised to think about it, so he blurted out the first words he could think of, "Uh… I think the new imaginary friends are… noisy?"

Slim immediately repeated, "The new imaginary friends are noisy!" and the phrase was amplified and sent towards the various interphones in the house… and in just a second, everyone knew the Amobea Boys thought the new arrivals at Foster's were noisy… which included themselves.

"Perfect! See, that wasn't hard, was it?" Bossman complimented, patting Slim's back and completely falling to catch the problem, while Jr. tried to have a go with a victory dance. The three stopped together and turned towards the other three, "So, how was it? Was it bad? Huh?"

Silence.

"You don't have any words to say? I guess you're impressed, mhhh?"

"Impressed? Are you kidding me? You think saying someone makes too much noise is _mean?_ Come on guys, you can do better! If I wanted to do something truly evil, I'd-OUCH! Hey, what gives!?"

Coco had just pecked at the girls' ear, and did not answer her. She simply glared at Goo and started to push her away with her beak, signalling Eduardo to do the same. "Well… it was nice I guess… _Adios!"_ he managed to say before he hurried behind the other two.

The imaginary Amoeba Boys stared at the three, dumbfounded, until they disappeared behind the nearest corner. Then, they exchanged interrogative glances.

"Well… they went away… maybe they're scared…" Slim proposed.

"Yes. Yes! That must be it! Let's go pick another one of those wall phones, we've barely started!" Bossman cried in excitement, and the three amobeas moved away, as secure of themselves as ever.

* * *

"Mac, have I already told you you're gonna pay for this?"

"Yes, about thirty-four times… and this is the thirty-fifth one!"

"Well, I hope you'll remember it well, 'cause that's what's gonna happen for getting us _here!"_

Mac scoffed and for the moment pretended his companion didn't exist. Bloo could be really annoying sometimes… but he was even more annoying when he was _right._

"Shut up! Can't you see we're near the start of the game, as if the first action of the match that is due to begin in less than five minutes? I will not let you distract me from my examination of the Powerpuff Girls' tactics as they play this so-called game, which will let me ideate a plan so evil, so perfect, no one is going to…"

Mojo Jojo, continue to go on and on, and both Bloo and Mac decided to let him continue his speech and keep their gaze towards the basketball field, trying to ignore the glares they sometimes got from the villains all around them.

Mac had forced Bloo to follow him to sit down in the villain's side, thus getting them literally trapped between the various ill-behaving imaginary friends. The good news was that at least the Rowdyruff-based imaginary boys were situated elsewhere, since it looked like they weren't liked that much by the other villains, but staying there without arguing with the neighbours was easier said than done. The Mojo Jojo who had been bothering them a good example, since he wasn't the same one Mac had somewhat 'befriended'.

Bloo was still trying to understand how Mac was scared of getting in contact with the Powerpuff Girls, especially the blonde ones. It didn't make sense! He knew that the blue-eyed imaginary friends were somewhat interested in him, and that was good material to use to pick on him, but it was starting to get more than annoying!

Soon, they saw Coco, Goo and Eduardo in the distance and Mac waved at them. The three moved between rows and rows of evildoers, much to Eduardo's dismay, until they joined them in the seats behind.

"Cococococoo…" Coco cooed, sounding unhappy.

"You tell her, Coco!" Bloo quickly incited.

"Coco, I know it's not the best, but please believe me… it's better here…" Mac said, sounding preoccupied by the possible argue with the imaginary bird.

"Well, at least I can get to know a bit more about these new guys…" Goo commented, before turning to the nearest imaginary friend, "hey, hello! What do you think about-"

"I think you should close your mouth and leave me alone!" Princess Morebucks hissed.

"Wow, way to start a friendly conversation…" Goo said, raising an eyebrow.

"Señora Goo, I think it's best if we let them enjoy the match in peace… we don't want to make them angry!"

Goo crossed her arms with a frown, but didn't speak anymore. Coco had no interest in the villains nearby, as she was currently busy in a staring contest with the same Mayor who had challenged her the day before, who sat on the opposite side of the court. The imaginary mayor was accompanied by a few non-puffed imaginary friends, and the group was encircled by tons of Powerpuff Girls. The match had quickly become a hit at Foster's and was particularly awaited by the themed imaginary friends. Without the Foster's gang, there were twenty imaginary friends at most attending, while the other ones probably surpassed the number of one-hundred.

"Guys, look! They're here!" Mac called, and the others quickly leaned towards the field. The five Buttercups, wearing specific sport gear, ran into the basketball field, earning a storm of taunts and jabs from the villains and a happy chorus from the other side. The five girls exhibited themselves in a series of warming-up techniques, showing a surprisingly good ability in doing it. _They're not bad…_ Mac thought.

Then, Wilt walked timidly into the court. The reaction was quieter from both sides, as the villains confabulated about the possibilities of victory for the tall imaginary friends, while on the other side a good part of the imaginary friends applauded and a little part of them (which, not surprisingly, included the Mayor) whistled their disapproval. The tall imaginary friend looked somewhat low on morale.

 _Wilt, I know you can do it… we have to cheer him up,_ Mac thought before standing up and saying, "Come on guys, let's show Wilt we believe in him!"

Wilt was surprised to hear the cries of encouragement from his own friends. He waved at them, thankful, and he waved back at the few non-themed imaginary friends too, since they started to yell their support too. Even some of the villains suddenly stood up to yell some words to spur the imaginary friend on.

"Ha, so you have your own fans as well! Good for you, too bad for them since they're going to watch your biggest loss ever!" Buttercup One said, pulling Wilt attention away from the supporters and back in the basketball match. The five Buttercups were already in position.

Miss Keane casually walked between the girls and Wilt. "Okay, girls; Wilt. I'll make sure no one of you breaks too many rules and check you do not hurt each other… remember, you're here to have fun!"

"Yes, yes, Miss Keane, we know, let's start already!" Buttercup Three said excitedly.

"Uhh, I'm sorry, but I have a question…" Wilt began.

"Please, tell me everything you want," Miss Keane invited politely.

"Since I'm alone against them… am I allowed to ask for assistance for four, uuhhh… friends of mine?"

"Of course! To be honest, I wasn't happy with the one-versus-five ordeal to begin with!"

Buttercup Two shot a glare around, eyeing the few non-themed imaginary friends and Wilt's friends on the bleachers, without a doubt suspecting for some of them to come to Wilt's aid. The other green-eyed Powerpuffs scowled, but nonetheless didn't argue. Miss Keane was right if they had to be honest… maybe this was going to make the match more interesting.

Unfortunately for them, Wilt didn't refer to his own friends. He made a hand signal and, without notice, four Butches separated from the Rowdyruffs' group and ran into the field. The event was followed by an eruption of cries and shouts from the audience, either pleased or angered by the turn of events. Mac, Bloo, Eduardo and Coco stared in bewilderment, while Goo screamed in joy, "Now that's what I call a true surprise! Go, Wilt, go, you can do it now! Give those… ugh, I can't remember any name today! …those Buttermaps a piece of your mind!"

The Five Buttercups strangely didn't protest. However, Wilt was frightened by the look in their eyes… they weren't arguing, alright, but they were _mad._

"Don't worry, _beanpole,_ they're just trying to get on our nerves. Let's roll, boys!"

The four ruffs took their respective positions. And before Wilt knew it, the imaginary Miss Keane blew into her whistle and the game began with the basketball thrown in the air.

Wilt was tall, no doubt about it, and until his encounter with the four Butches that advantage had been his only hope. He therefore raised his hand to catch the ball way higher than the Buttercup below him could possibly do, but the imaginary girl had one ace up her sleeve. Wilt felt something climb around his body and before he realized it the Buttercup was on his shoulder, then the girl jumped sideward and grabbed the ball before Wilt's hand reached it. As the audience went wild, Buttercup landed on the ground and sprinted towards the other team's half of the field, bouncing the ball with ease.

"AFTER HER! C'MON, BEANPOLE, MOVE!" a Butch bellowed, but Wilt had to spend ten seconds processing what had just happened before he returned to the real world and resumed playing.

As Mac had predicted, the five Buttercups were _good._ As if, _very good,_ since the Butches had a really hard time keeping the girls under control. Wilt was too much scared to put up a good counter to the puffs' moves as well… the results of these combined was utter defeat since the Buttercups scored again and again with precise shots to the basket, despite their limited height.

Miss Keane whistled the end of the first period. "Okay, boys and girls, remember, we'll play our own rules, so next time will be the last. Relax until you can!" Miss Keane informed, even though the players were already aware of the rules.

The Buttercups ran towards the crowd formed by their sisters and copies of them and were instantly cheered on, while Wilt tried to ignore the whistles coming from the villain's side. He found more worrying the glares his four teammates fired at him.

"What were you dreaming about, beanpole? You acted like ya' were made of wood!" Butch One started.

"Yeah, every imaginary friend we interroga- ahem, _asked_ about you said you were basically a champion! What's gotten into you?" Butch Two questioned.

"You better get a hold of yourself, or we'll make sure to do it ourselves after the game's finished!" Butch Three threatened.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, I just… I'm a bit nervous. I'll try to do my best the next half, I promise!"

"I hope so… for your own good!" Butch Four finished. Then the four left him alone with his thoughts for a minute.

 _They're right… I can do better than this._ Wilt gave a glance to his friends on the bleachers, who were currently talking to each other, without a doubt wondering what was going on with the supposedly basketball pro. _I must do it…_

He walked back into the field in formation with his four teammates. The Buttercups were already there waiting for them, so Miss Keane didn't have to wait. "Have fun!" she said, oblivious to the tension, before whistling and throwing the ball.

The Buttercup in front of Wilt made a move to climb over him like she did before, but to her surprise Wilt's legs disappeared. The imaginary friend in fact had jumped in the air, reaching a height enough high to grab the ball just when it reached the peak of its flight.

"Catch!" Wilt said before throwing the ball at the nearest Butch while still in mid-air. The imaginary Rowdyruff Boy grinned and ran forward, dribbling a dazed Buttercup, and the next three were easily avoided thanks to a ball exchange with another Butch. In just ten seconds from the start, Wilt's team made a score.

"Yeah, that's the spirit! Good one, beanpole!" Butch Two shouted in excitement as the other three Rowdyruffs danced around, mocking the extremely furious Buttercups. Wilt even heard the rest of the gang cheer for him loudly from the distance, along with some of the villainous imaginary friends around them.

_I can do it!_

The rest of the half was a continuous beating on the Buttercups' team. The five puffs tried their best, but Wilt was simply on another level, not just regarding his body size but also for sheer ability, and with his newfound determination the Butches had their effectiveness raised along with the morale. The Buttercups continue to prove to be a hard opponent nonetheless and, just a minute before the end of the match, the game reached a tie.

The play was for the Buttercups' team. Buttercup Three moved forward and dodged a Butch that tried to steal the ball, then she passed it to Buttercup Four, who found herself blocked by Wilt. However, she easily passed the ball again _through_ the imaginary friend's legs, startling the basketball player and basically evading two other Butches. Buttercup One received the ball and found herself one on one with Butch One.

"Hey, let's see if you can surpass me, beau-cup!" he teased. The imaginary girl gritted her teeth and jumped high in the air, preparing to attempt a throw over the ruff, but Butch One wasn't fazed and… remained immobile.

He knew that Buttercup One would have used every bit of focus on trying to pass over him… so he took out the obstacle to confuse her. Buttercup One opened her eyes in shock and almost lost her grip on the ball. When she managed to regain control of herself and try a throw, she was already falling down. And as expected, the ball hit nothing but the metal of the basket.

"Thirty seconds, go!" Butch Two shouted before grabbing the ball and throwing it to Butch Three, just in time since he was right away stormed by two Buttercups. With a game of exchanges Three and Four easily dispatched another Buttercup, but Four found himself blocked by the third one. "Ten seconds!" Butch Two shouted again, "DO SOMETHING!"

The blocked Butch decided to try the impossible and shoved the ball high in the air, in a trajectory slightly curved behind himself, yelling, "BEANPOLE, YOURS!"

Wilt didn't lose time: he was already near the other team's basket. He eyed the ball with his good eye and jumped even before it began its descent. Buttercup Five could only gape as Wilt grabbed the ball two meters away from the basket itself, turned 180° degrees around and literally pushed the ball into the basket, making the entire structure shake. In the end, the imaginary friend landed gracefully and was greeted by a roaring storm of shouts.

"WE DID IT!"

"WAY TO GO, BEANPOLE!"

"WE WON, WE WON!"

"See Buttercup, it wasn't that bad! Was it, hahahah!"

The four Butch teammates of Wilt even went to grab him and pull him towards the other Rowdyruff Boys, who were already applauding at their victory. The other villains' reactions ranged from pleased to delighted at the results, with the same Mojo Jojo who had bothered Mac and Bloo scribbling something about 'adding a basketball player to the private army to counter Buttercup'. Wilt's friends were obviously happy to see a victory of his. They left their seats and navigated through the imaginary friends until they reached him.

"Wilt, that was just awesome, you rock!" Goo said.

"That final shot was over-the-top! You absolutely have to help me learn how to do that as soon as you're free to! No buts!" Bloo requested.

"Cococococococoocoooo!"

Eduardo nodded his agreement to Coco's affirmation as Mac continued, "We all knew you could do it, Wilt! How did you have the idea to ask the Rowdyruff Boys for help, anyway?"

Wilt scratched his head in embarrassment, "Thank you guys, but really… eeh… they were the ones to ask to play."

"What? Haha, good one!" Bloo laughed, only to have a green-eyed imaginary friend spank his back. "Hahaha! It's actually true, blobby bobby!"

"Blobby WHAT? What did you just call me?" Bloo uttered in rage, but Butch ignored him. The gang was in fact surrounded by various Rowdyruff Boys now, and by then Coco, Eduardo and Mac looked a bit worried.

Goo however had no idea about how the Rowdyruffs could be dangerous. She therefore threw every possible safe rule out of the window when she turned towards the nearest triplet of ruffs, saying, "What do you think about it, huh? Hasn't Wilt been awesome?"

"I have to admit, that imaginary friend sure has the moves," Brick said _, smiling._ Which, except for Goo, had the others gape at him in surprise.

"Yeah, he's surely made those Powerpuffs see who's the real deal!" Boomer exclaimed. His green-eyed brother didn't even say anything as he danced around in excitement. Mac, Coco and Eduardo were completely aghast, but Wilt was grinning.

Various Rowdyruff Boys continued to come to congratulate themselves with Wilt… it seemed like the match had completely inverted the general mood in the villain side. Now calm and serene, Wilt glanced towards the other side of the new imaginary friends, to find, not surprisingly, a wall of grumpiness enveloping the various Powerpuff Girls.

"I'm sorry guys, but I have to fix something," Wilt said before walking casually _over_ the Rowdyruffs. The rest of the gang tried to follow him only to be slowed down by the crowd; therefore, Wilt was alone when he reached the Powerpuff Girls.

The group was way bigger than the Rowdyruffs' one, but Wilt was only interested in five brunettes at the moment. He looked around until he found them, still in their sports gear, being comforted by their respective sisters.

"Uhhh… hello?" Wilt began. He was prepared for the glares, which he of course received.

"What do you want? Boast a bit more on our faces?" one of the Buttercups said.

"No… I'm sorry," Wilt answered. He kneeled down in order to try to reach their own height, but even on his knees he was taller than them. Sighing, he decided to continue to speak anyways.

"Girls, you don't have to feel dejected. It was just a basketball match."

"What do you know about what it was? Don't you see how the others behind you are partying up? They're going to bring it up on your faces forever now!"

"I don't think you should care that much about it. I have a friend of mine who can be really annoying when he wants, but he's still a good guy deep down. Moreover, listen, I'm sorry… but that's the Rowdyruff Boys we're talking about. Does that really surprise you?"

Wilt waited for a few seconds for a reply, but the imaginary girls around him kept silent.

"See? And, to be honest, they aren't that bad… they're just a bit too much bothersome, but they're cool as long as you don't constantly look for a fight."

"Wait a second, that sounds like an accuse! As if we're the ones at fault!" a Blossom interjected, offended.

"I didn't mean that! I'm just saying you all could give each other a chance." Wilt stood up and directed his attention towards all the Powerpuff Girls around him. "Girls, you all should do this. There's so much fun to have while you're staying at Foster's, and you really could spend your time better than running after the imaginary friends you don't like only because of their looks."

The Powerpuff Girls glanced at each other, every one of them, and soon various pumpkin-heads nodded. Wilt had a point.

Satisfied by their reaction, he reached out and offered his hand to his ex-opponents. "So, are we good now? If we're not, I'm terribly sorry for not-"

"Ah, cut the 'I'm sorry' blabber, you're beginning to get annoying!" Buttercup One interrupted impudently. Then, her frown slowly turned into a smile: "… Just promise we're gonna get a rematch someday! We're not gonna forget this, you know!"

Wilt smiled back before replying, "Of course." Five fingerless hands went to grab his own, but Wilt wasn't expecting their next move. The five imaginary girls pulled him down without notice. He was too much surprised to react, and the next thing Wilt knew he was _under_ the five puffs, unable to move.

By then Coco, Goo, Eduardo, Bloo and Mac had reached him and they were all smiling (well, except for Bloo who still held a grudge towards every green-eyed puff) while they watched Wilt get tortured by the Buttercups. And he was laughing all around too.

Coco separated from the gang, and the others watched her as she went to meet a certain monocle-wearing imaginary friend. They heard him shout something in anger before slumping to the ground in defeat, while Coco cooed in victory.

"Mac," Goo said, "are you sure the situation in this house is that serious? I mean, everyone here's having a good time!"

"Believe me, Goo, when I say that until the start of Wilt's game we were all far from having a good time…"

"Well, maybe things are going to change now. Can't they?"

Mac watched the girl as he pondered over her words. "Maybe you're right, Goo… I seriously hope so!"

* * *

The crowd who had attended to Wilt's big game slowly dispersed around the garden and went their own ways, back into the house and not. No one paid attention to the group of five imaginary bullies who were resting under the shadow of a tree, observing the crowd.

"I see a lot of happy faces…" Lil' Arturo stated.

"Dahhh, I wanna have some fun too," Big Billy complained, only to be smacked on the arm by Snake. "Husssshhhh! We don't want that, we want the exact oppossssssite!"

"Not exactly. We want to have fun, Billy, but to do that we have to make the lives of all the other imaginary friends at Foster's a little more… interesting!" Ace said. He turned to Grubber, "what's _her_ next move, Grubber?"

"Prrrrhh prrhhh prrrrrhhhhhh!"

"Uhm… fascinating. Let's go boys, we have a _party_ to prepare and only two days to do it!"


	5. Day Five

* * *

**THURSDAY**

* * *

 

It was not uncommon, at Foster's, to see groups of imaginary friends sit down in a circle pattern, immersed in a discussion. The number of possible sources of argument that could originate inside the mansion more than one time needed a collective decision.

Indeed, no one of the four imaginary friends who at the moment stayed in the centre of their bedroom on the upper floors were at ease with the current situation.

Bloo was frowning, not surprisingly. Wilt's good eye continuously jumped to friend to friend, and Eduardo did the same. Coco's eyes seemed unperturbed, but deep down she was as nervous as the others.

"Sooo…" Wilt broke the ice, "how's the morning been guys?"

"It couldn't have been worse!" Bloo burst out.

"Cococococo…"

"Jinx it? Oh, don't be dumb Coco, that's impossible! First, I can't get to the arcade because of some 'rowdyruff toddlers' group who occupied the entire room. Then, I get chased out of nowhere by two Fuzzy Lumpkins because they were told I had caused some type of mess regarding those guitar-things most of them own, and I'll let you imagine how much they listened when I told them I was innocent! And after all of that and finally losing those two, you know what? Frankie appears out of nowhere and literally orders me to look after Mr. Herriman while she and Madame Foster do something I forgot, and she didn't even let me protest!"

"That's unfortunate Bloo, I'm sorry… even though that last one didn't sound that bad," Wilt said with sincere sympathy. Bloo might have looked for most of the trouble he got into, but the fact that the new imaginary friends were doing their best to make everyone's life harder was indisputable.

"I'd like to see you _babysit_ Herriman of all people for more than thirty minutes!"

"Well, at least there was no food fight today at lunch… And I don't remember seeing much of the imaginary friends argue," Eduardo said.

Coco nodded. "Cococo cococococo…"

"Right. We aren't all happy and serene yet, but we're slowly making progress. You'll just have to bear for a few days more, Bloo, and I'm sure we'll all finally start to get along."

Bloo grumpily watched the floor while muttering, "Mmghmm… I hope so…"

"Sooo… what can we do now?" Eduardo asked. Before anyone could answer, someone knocked at their door.

"Is that Mac?" Wilt wondered. Coco glanced at the clock on the wall and shook her head. The other imaginary friends exchanged a few looks before standing up. Wilt came to the door and, _slowly,_ brought his lone hand to the doorknob and opened it.

"Finally! I was beginning to get impatient, something you should avoid doing at all costs!" Mojo Jojo bellowed as he slammed the door open, almost hitting Wilt with it. Without further explanations, he marched into the room and scanned the area.

"I search the boy, the one named Mac. Is he here?"

"No, I'm sorry. He normally arrives a bit later in the afternoon, it's still early. Maybe if you wait half an hour from now he'll be here!" Wilt informed. At that point, they had all recognized the imaginary ape as the one Mojo Mac had talked with in the previous days.

He scratched his chin… "Not good. It's too late, we have to take action now!"

His eyes looked at the four imaginary friends in an evaluating fashion. He noted how Wilt was confused, Eduardo was scared, Bloo was annoyed and Coco was angry, before sighing. "I suppose you four will have to do…"

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?" Wilt said.

"It's simple. I've found out more information about the conspiracy. By now I am positive to say that the only imaginary Gangreen Gang that is stationed in this house is part of it, and to my knowledge they might go with whatever they're planning _tomorrow."_

"That's a pretty bad accusation. Are you sure?" Wilt questioned, "Not every one of the villains is bad… I mean, not _that_ bad."

Mojo Jojo arched an eyebrow. "Of course, I know it sounds bad. Telling one of the heads of Foster's is out of question, without concrete proof they would just take it for the nth false accusation."

"Ehh… I think that if we tell Señora Frankie about it, she would surely-…"

"And that's why I need someone, and that's someone is going to be you four," Mojo Jojo persisted in talking, cutting off Eduardo. "You will have to infiltrate the Gangreen Gang's bedroom and look for any information, clue or piece of evidence you can find. Any type of document, contraption or material that might be used for causing havoc and chaos. If you manage to get your hands on something fairly hard to be justifiable, we might be able to stop them before it's too late."

"Cococo! Cocococo!" Coco protested.

Mojo Jojo scowled… and ignored her. "The most important target, though, is finding out _who_ they're working with. The mind behind it all who's coordinating their efforts, the one who dares to disturb my thoughts which should only be directed towards world domination!"

He turned and began to walk back to the door, "Go to the Gangreens' headquarters and search the room. If you fail, I might as well decide how to develop my own sleeping quarters into bunker-tier levels of safety…"

And with that said, he abandoned the room and left them to themselves.

"Cocococo… cococo coco," Coco muttered.

"You got a point, maybe he's really overthinking. I know Mac has told us about it as well and that he seemed conflicted about it, but maybe he's been influenced a little? He's really not been himself the last few days," Wilt wondered.

"I'm not looking forward to get into something as dangerous as getting into a villain's room!" Eduardo cried.

"That's true as well. Bloo, what do you say?" asked Wilt, but the blue imaginary friend remained silent. The other three looked at him and realized that his face was completely neutral, not a hint of emotion on it.

Well, that stayed true until, oh so slowly, a grin began to appear on Bloo's mouth. And Coco, Wilt and Eduardo instantly knew that the grin was a signal for big _trouble._

"We're gonna do it!" Bloo announced, jumping in the air. That was an affirmation that didn't leave space for discussion.

"Señor Bloo, don't you think you-…" Eduardo began, only to be interrupted. "Don't start your usual blabbering, Eduardo! This is amazing, we might get to do something _not_ boring and we'll also get on the other imaginary friends' nerves by doing it! That'll serve them right!"

"Bloo! I'm sorry, but that's just mean to think about!" Wilt reprimanded.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Wilt. You know what? I don't even _care_ what you'll do, I'm still going!" Bloo declared as he walked away, disappearing behind the door seconds after. The other imaginary friends watched each other for a while.

"…we have to follow him, don't we?" Eduardo grumbled.

"Cocoo…"

Wilt sighed. "Let's just try to not cause any more ruckus… we already have plenty of it at Foster's."

* * *

Mac walked into Foster's with a weak smile on his face. The previous day had been better than the past ones, but that didn't mean that things at Foster's were already going well. Still, Mac thought that being positive for at least once wouldn't have hurt anyone… he felt like that he couldn't really be as scared as Eduardo that things could escalate any time.

While he walked into Foster's foyer, he thought about where to go and settled on looking for Bloo and the other friends, starting with their bedroom. He knew for a fact that Coco, Wilt, Eduardo and even Bloo had begun to get shier and unwilling to leave the safeness of their room since the first arrival of the themed imaginary friends.

Sadly, the day wasn't exactly going to play out as the kid had planned.

Mac suddenly halted when someone blocked his path. Someone who happened to have blonde hair tied in pigtails, and who also happened to be smiling at him.

Mac bit his lip before recomposing himself. He wasn't going to freak out and escape like a cowardly dog, period! He was better than this!

"Uhh… hello…" Mac said, carefully choosing the words, "I'm a bit of a hurry, so… I cannot stay here to chat. Bye!"

He made a step sideward to show he wanted to keep going, but _another_ imaginary girl came out of nowhere and forced him to move back. And, unfortunately, this one was blonde as well.

Mac looked behind himself, only to see three other Bubbleses. He looked around, and found out that there were more and more coming. He was _surrounded._

_Maybe 'escaping' would have been the wisest choice, after all…_

"I think he's _cute…_ " one of the various imaginary Bubbleses said.

"I would really like to hug him all day!" another one chirped.

"Cuddle him like a little puppy!"

"Show him my collection of dollies!"

"Get him to know my sisters!"

" _Fill his cheeks with kisses!"_

Frankie Foster descended the stairs of the foyer with her arms full of folders. Mr. Herriman was already getting better and, loyal to his reputation, had explicitly requested her to bring him the numerous papers while he stayed in bed. In fact, even when he was sick he couldn't get his thoughts out of paperwork, despite Frankie's grandma's protests. By now she was bringing the compiled paper back to Herriman's office, ready to be stocked as soon as the imaginary rabbit would be ready to work again, which she guessed wasn't going to take too much time.

She was surprised to see the scene going on in the atrium: Mac, looking frightened, encircled by what could have been twenty or thirty imaginary blue-eyed Powerpuff Girls. She found the show kind of amusing, and she smiled before saying, "I would've never thought you'd make this much friends in so little time, Mac."

Startled, the Bubbles-imaginary friends moved away from Frankie's direction, and as a result a hole appeared in their formation. Mac didn't even question replying to Frankie and took the chance right away: he sprinted into the escaping route, spluttered a quick "thanks!" to the redheaded woman and zapped upstairs, the Bubbles fast on hot pursuit after they realized the adorable eight-year old kid was getting away. Frankie raised an eyebrow, unsure about what to think about what she had just witnessed, but eventually she shrugged. For all she knew, they were just playing together.

 _After all,_ she thought, _I know that every Bubbles here is as nice as the original one. What could they possibly do to harm Mac?_

* * *

Bloo moved quietly in the hallway, sneaking in a way Solid Snake and Sam Fisher would have been proud of. He was wearing a black balaclava and he overall looked like he had very suspicious intentions.

After making sure that the coast was clear, he made a signal behind himself and, slowly, the other three imaginary friends came tiptoeing to join him from behind a corner. They didn't look like as questionable as the blue blob at all… to be more precise, they looked perplexed.

"Bloo, is this really needed? Maybe if we just ask-…" Wilt began, only to be hushed by a piercing glare of Bloo. He moved forward and motioned them to follow him, and moments after they found themselves in front of the infamous door behind which the Gangreen Gang had slept the previous nights.

"Do we have to? We're near other villains' rooms as well… we don't want to get caught!" Eduardo whimpered.

"If you really want to get out of here fast, then help me!" Bloo whispered back before drawing out a plastic bag and diving into it, starting to look for something.

"Uuh… Bloo…" Wilt called.

"What, Wilt? Don't you see, I'm trying to get something to lockpick the door!"

"The door's open, Bloo."

Utterly surprised, Bloo turned towards the door and he realized it was reallyopen, left ajar but nevertheless _open._

He had to hold himself from growling when Coco went forward and calmly pushed the door open while giving him a condescending look. There was no calls or reactions from inside and by the time the entrance was free they all knew the room was empty.

"Oh, at least there's nobody inside. Lucky… I had some kung-fu moves ready for them!" Bloo boasted.

"Let's just get over with it and look for… whatever the Mojo Jojo imaginary friend wanted us to find," Wilt said. Bloo looked at the tall imaginary friend in annoyance, he would have wanted to say the order himself, but he resolved to simply huff when he saw his three friends ignore him and go into the room to start the job.

The Gangreen Gang's room was one big mess, as the four imaginary friends quickly noticed. Every possible type of object littered the floor and every flat surface over it, giving the room the feeling it had been searched _before_ the four even arrived.

Ten minutes passed without any of the four imaginary friends getting any good result.

"Anything?" Eduardo questioned.

"Coco. Cococococo!" Coco complained.

"Yeah. Maybe, if knew what to look for… I've found nothing but smelling laundry until now!" Wilt lamented.

Before the three of them could continue on with their rant, Bloo suddenly sprouted out of a chest, triumphally holding something in his hand. "HA-HA! Gotcha!" Bloo announced as he showed them… a paddle ball racket.

"I'm sorry, Bloo, but what does that have to do with what we're looking for?" Wilt asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Nothing!"

Coco, Eduardo and Wilt at first couldn't believe what they had just heard. "Then why would you-" Wilt began.

"I left it unguarded for two minutes yesterday and when I returned to take it back, it was gone! I knew someone had stolen it, I just had to find out who! Now, those five artichoke-coloured brutes are going to-"

"Cococo!" Coco suddenly interrupted in alarm.

At her alert, the four imaginary friends zapped towards the nearest hiding places they could find. Wilt went behind a vertical lamp. Bloo dived back into the chest. Coco concealed herself in a plant pot.

Eduardo remained immobile, unsure what to do. From behind the lamp, Wilt urged him to do something, as steps began to be heard. The Mexican friend looked around nervously and in the end settled on a desperate choice.

Lil' Arturo walked into the Gangreen Gang's bedroom. He looked around suspiciously, since he would have sworn he had heard noises coming from his room, but when he concluded there was absolutely no one there he simply shrugged. After all, the room was chaos even before!

He went towards his own bed on the sidewall opposite to the lamp were Wilt was hiding behind and took something out of under it. Whatever he was doing, it went unseen by the other imaginary friends.

"Ace, I hope you know what you're doing," Arturo mumbled to himself before he put the unidentified object back under the bed. He then went to leave before freezing and seeing the big form of someone lying on one of the two upper beds. He had found Eduardo, who had no other choice but to climb over a bed and cover himself with the sheet, trying to be as less noticeable as possible… which hadn't been that effective since he was far from being small. Wilt and Coco stared at Arturo, fearing the worst.

Then, Arturo's frown turned into a simply annoyed face as he grumbled, "Big Billy, what are you doing, sleeping in the middle of the afternoon?"

Eduardo gulped and remained silent. Lil' Arturo's patience was thin, but for once luck went the Foster's gang way as he sighed. "Look, I know you're awake, don't try to fool me. Just get down with the others by half an hour."

And finally, Arturo left the room, and when his steps stopped to be hearable, the four imaginary friends moved away from their hiding places and together breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a bit too close to be okay!" Wilt said.

" _Sì!_ We should go before someone else arrives!" Eduardo agreed. Bloo simply let out an unfocused "Okay, whatever," since he was far more concentrated on his retrieved paddle ball. Coco nodded, but instead of going straight into the corridor she moved to Arturo's bed side and took a peek under it.

She then faced her friends showing… an unimpressed look. "Cococooo…"

Wilt tried his best to remain calm. So, that was what the Mojo Jojo had been talking about…

…a collection of hygiene tools.

"I'll tell you what. That guy didn't really look like the clean type," Bloo commented without interest.

"…let's just go," Wilt ended, and they finally left the room.

The imaginary friends made a step together to go back from where they came, only to be greeted by a sighting that made them stop on their dead tracks. Eduardo's face literally turned white.

" _And where are you four going?"_

Previously, Frankie had already found some minutes to talk with Eduardo, Coco, Wilt and Bloo about how each of every one of the new imaginary friends could behave, basing her statements on what she remembered of the source material.

"Don't you know this is _our_ territory? No one trespasses without our permission!"

Obviously, some of the minor characters weren't known that much by the redhead, given that it had been some time since she last saw some episodes. There was however one exception she had noticed last Sunday, but she deemed it unimportant in the sheer amount of new imaginary friends who had come at Foster's.

" _*sigh*_ …and I thought I could spend a day without being bothered…"

That was why Frankie had simply told the imaginary friends that, if they ever encountered the Powerpunk Girls, they would just have to _run._ To be precise, she was half-joking when she said so, but it was the only piece of information the four currently had about the three imaginary girls they were facing.

That was why, after the threats thrown at them by Brute, Brat and Berserk, Bloo, Eduardo, Wilt and Coco retreated backwards, with the first two screaming in fright. The Powerpunks were confused at first, but soon began running after them, attracted by the smell of fear.

* * *

Mac ran for his life. Even so, the blue horde behind him didn't give any sign of slowing down.

He had undertaken a curvy path of turns, changes of directions and passages between the floors throughout the mansion, but despite his hard efforts he had failed at losing the Bubbleses. If anything, the imaginary girls seemed to be entertained by the pursuit. Maybe they weren't even seriously trying to catch him and were just playing with-

 _No, no,_ he thought frantically, _don't even think about it, just focus on getting out of this!_

He took a random turn at the nth intersection and ran for a total of twenty meters before encountering the worst possibly event ever: a dead end.

_DRATS! What was even thinking whoever built Foster's when he placed dead ends in this place?!_

He hastily looked around for some type of escaping route, but there were none. The footsteps of the horde were becoming louder, and Mac knew that hiding in one of the pair of cupboards wouldn't have worked: they _knew_ he was there. They would just have checked them.

A moment before Mac considered accepting his fate, he felt a tug on his ankle. He looked behind to see a fingerless hand on his shoe and a pair of dark blue eyes looking at him from… a fissure on the floor?

"Quick! Come now!" the voice harshly ordered, and Mac didn't let the supposed saviour tell him twice. The fissure became an open passage on the pavement and Mac jumped into the hiding place, greeted by at least three other pairs of dark blue eyes. The one who had talked with him closed the passage fast, and then it was darkness.

Steps hammered over them as the horde reached the dead end. "He's not here!" "Where is he?" "The cupboards!" "Na-ah, he's not here!" "But he was here, I saw him!" "Me too!" the voices went on as the steps continued to be heard and the imaginary girls continued to look for the _cutie._

"No, we must have made an error. To the other side, now! He cannot be far!" a Bubbles suddenly declared, and soon the horde resumed its march.

…

"They're gone," one of the occupants of the hiding place said.

"Yep. I… thanks, guys…" Mac hesitated on what to say. "I really can't think about what could have happened without your help."

"They're after us as well," one of the blue pairs of eyes explained, "we couldn't just let you get caught by them." He slowly reopened the secret passage, letting the light in and finally permitting Mac to see the faces of his companions.

He almost lost his breath when he recognized the four Boomers.

"Uhh… yeah…"

"But don't you spill it out at any of our brothers that we saved you! Or that we've been escaping from some Powerpuffs. Got it?!" a Boomer said vehemently.

"My lips are sealed, promise!" Mac confirmed. The five kids (one real and four imaginary) left the hiding place, one by one. While they got out, Mac glanced at the opened latch, which seemed to be pre-built. "I didn't know Foster's had these... secret passages. How did you find it?"

"When you're out of options, you start to look for the most ridiculous solutions," a Boomer said.

"Yeah. We saw one of _them_ getting one of us, you know. It was… _terrifying,"_ another one stammered.

Mac by now was frightened beyond bearing level. "…C-c-c'mon, let's go then! If we find someone else, like my friends, they might be able to protect us from _them!"_

The Boomers didn't really know what to do: trust this guy or let him go and return to their 'safehouse'? However, they had already remained concealed in the secret space under the floor for forty-five minutes. And if there was something far scarier than the Bubbleses for the Boomers, it was _boredom._

The four blue-eyed kids nodded and together, with Mac leading the way, they ran back into the same direction Mac had come from before, different from the one taken by the blue horde.

* * *

"I'm starting to get sick of having to run away from someone!" Bloo complained.

"Cocococo!" Coco retorted.

"Please, stop arguing and keep running!" Wilt asked, silencing the both of them as Eduardo screamed every time he turned his head to check whether they had lost the Powerpunks or not.

But the three girls were not giving up easily.

Soon, the imaginary friends began to encounter more villains, who they slalomed around. "Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through!" Wilt apologized as the group made their way through various lumpkins, princesses, chimpanzees and other imaginary evil-doers. Yet, the Powerpunks didn't seem to be slowed down the same way, and they started to close the distance.

" _Caramba,_ they almost got us! We need a distraction or something!" Eduardo cried as he tried to sprint to distance himself from Brute.

"Cococo! Coco!?"

"I'm.. _*pant*_ …I'm thinking!"

"This is not good, not good!"

The solution the Foster's gang hoped for actually arrived. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly what they wanted, since the distraction himself proved to be another themed imaginary friend.

Wilt, Coco, Bloo halted, but Eduardo failed to see them since he was too concentrated on the Powerpunks behind him and ended up bumping into them. The four collapsed together on the ground with a collective 'ooff!', before finally watching the guy who had caused them to stop.

Even the Powerpunks behind them slowed down until they came to a complete halt. Berserk crossed her hands and narrowed her eyes, while Brute and Brat frowned similarly.

"Well, well, well, what are my darlings doing right now?" Oppressor Plutonium laughed, "Didn't know you would make new friends so fast."

"Leaving alone the fact we've been here for more than half a week… they're not our friends, bonehead!" Brat insulted.

Brute nodded and began her explanation, "These dorks were sneaking around in our territory. That is not accepta-"

"We were just bored and decided to scare them off," Berserk cut in, earning a distasteful glare from her green-eyed sister which she promptly ignored.

"Too bad, then, because I really cannot let you do that anymore…" the Oppressor continued. Eduardo, Wilt, Coco and Bloo opened their eyes in shock. He was saving them?

"…they're _mine_ now. I have just a series of highly scientific, and possibly _painful,_ tests I needed living subjects for!" the Oppressor concluded happily.

…nope, he wasn't.

Before Eduardo could even scream, though, the bellowing voice of Mojo Jojo intervened. "That's it! I've had it of your constant attempts at ruining the peace and quiet I need to carefully craft my master plans!"

The Oppressor moved his gaze from the still frightened imaginary friends to the chimpanzee who had dared to address him. "Now, Jomo Momo, why won't you go back playing with your toys and let me-"

"I've already told you! My name is not Jomo Momo. The only name you'll use to refer to me is Mojo Jojo, as if with three 'j's and one 'm'! And you won't use any other name to specifically state something about my persona!"

"Whatever you say, Jomo. Girls, take care of him," the Oppressor ordered, only to find out that the Powerpunk Girls were already arguing with an angered group of Fuzzies and Princesses. Exasperated, he turned back to the Mojo Jojo and was surprised to see there were three of them now.

"You'll go back to your sleeping quarters and let your malicious, and most annoying, activities come to an end!" Mojo Jojo Two affirmed.

"That, or you'll make us resort to extreme measures!" the third one finished. His threat, however, proved ineffective since the Oppressor started to laugh.

"You're so funny, how are you three not in a circus?" he stated, offending the evil geniuses even more. "Now, if you excuse me, I must…" his phrase was let unfinished when a lobster pincher closed on his neck, trapping him.

" **You won't do anything until I say so! And I say you swear this instant to close that mouth of yours!"** Him said with a perfect imitation of a demonic, furious tone. But the Oppressor, once he realized who had taken him aback from behind, chortled. "For crying out loud, aren't you the same guy who got pulled around by his neck by that woman days ago?!"

Him retracted his pincher, suddenly feeling embarrassed as the Oppressor continued to laugh and even the three Mojo Jojos joined him. At the same time, the Fuzzies and the Powerpunks had ended up starting a full-on brawl, even generating dust. And in the middle of this the four imaginary friends lied on the ground, still piled on one another, unsure what to do.

"…I suggest we take our leave now," Wilt said, and everyone else quickly nodded. They stood up and quietly walked away, successfully not bringing more attention to them, and after the first corner they began running.

"From now on, Bloo, you really should start to think more about what you want to do!" Wilt wasn't exactly happy with how the events had gone.

"Who cares, I got my paddle ball back!" Bloo responded, showing proudly the racket still in one piece.

"Cococooo…" Coco cooed, not even trying to reprimand the blue blob.

"I'm just happy we're out of that nightmare! I do hope this will the last time we get in something that dangerous!" Eduardo said. Coco and Wilt gave a sidelong glance to the imaginary friend.

"I sure hope so, Eduardo," Wilt agreed. Their stealth mission had no results anyway… what could actually happen and be worse of anything they had already went through?

* * *

Mac and his four imaginary companions walked in a hallway, calculating every step and the ears open for possible alarming noises. Foster's had a notable size if one considered it, and when you stayed quiet and listened, the silence that dominated the areas farther from the zones usually frequented by the imaginary friends could be easily considered eerie.

"Are you sure this is the right way, boy?" Boomer One said lowly, "It looks like we're getting anywhere but nearer to what you want to go!"

"I know, I know, it's just that it can be so confusing to move around Foster's. But I'm sure _this_ is the right way!" Mac whispered back. By now the section they were venturing into featured walls with ruined concrete, while the floor was even made out of wood. The Boomers weren't convinced but before they could argue back, one of them stepped on something that made a loud, creaking noise.

They froze and waited for ten seconds, but nothing came after them. Three of the Boomers immediately got angry at their fourth clone, "What're ya' doing, ya' twat?"

"Hey, blame the 'guide' here, wasn't my fault he led us to the halls full of creaking wooden planks!"

"You still could have seen it before!"

"Guys?" Mac called.

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"GUYS!" Mac shouted with urgency.

The four Boomers whirled to face him, shock on their faces. Had Mac lost his mind? Shouting while the blue horde looked for them?

Yet, there was a reason why Mac did so. Ten meters away from the boy there was a little imaginary girl with blonde pigtails staring at them. The Boomers remained silent, blocked by their own fear, while Mac hoped that, by remaining immobile, the girl would just have gone away.

A very desperate hope, indeed.

"THEY'RE HERE!" the Bubbles suddenly called for her other selves before walking towards them. "Why are you escaping, boys? We don't want to hurt you! In fact, we want to make you feel as relaxed as ever! Don't you want a little bit of cuddles, a lot of…" and while the Bubbles continued to talk, she got nearer, and the noises of numerous footsteps became louder. The overall sight was utterly terrifying for the five boys, who immediately turned on their heels and made a run for the opposite direction.

Only to be stopped by ten Bubbleses.

They looked behind themselves and saw another group coming behind the first one. The imaginary girls formed a line formation, filling the entire hallway on both sides.

They were _surrounded,_ and this time Mac knew Frankie wasn't coming out of nowhere to save him.

"Come on, don't be scared!" a Bubbles said, giggling.

"They're so adorable when they're so, though!" another one said.

"Makes me want to squeeze them around like a little puppy!"

"I take one of the blondies!"

"I take the brunet boy!"

"Hey, I want him too!"

"Girls, wait a moment. Let me talk with them…" said a boy's voice.

Mac was astonished. That was a male voice indeed. Who could even be following the imaginary girls in their hunt?

 _Wait a second… I know that voice,_ Mac thought. He glanced at his four mates and found them centimetres away from panicking.

The Bubbleses in front of Mac moved sideward and let an imaginary kid approach the group. A blonde, dark blue-eyed kid.

Mac was utterly confused. Until now he had deemed the Bubbleses to be dangerous friends to be avoided at all costs, but _this_ was definitely a good argument against that idea. At least, he hoped so… maybe the _Boomer_ they were facing had been brain-washed.

The four Boomers accompanying Mac, on the other hand, had no doubts about it. "What… what…" one of them stuttered, pure horror in his voice, "…what… in the world…"

"Oh, my… what happened… what did they… do to you?" a second one managed to blabber.

"Guys, it's not that bad really," the supposedly fifth Boomer began, "I don't really like all the girly stuff they wanted me to do with them, but they've been treating me like a king! You just have to play along and…"

"He's NUTS!" Boomer Three yelled, "I'd rather reach the roof and jump over the edge than become like you!"

The turned Boomer seemed offended, but the other Bubbleses around him only giggled at that response. And they started to close in.

The situation was a little absurd, but Mac was not fully convinced yet that the Bubbles-friends were harmless. As they approached them, he moved back and joined the four Boomers, who moved their fists around in a pathetic attempt to scare the imaginary girls away. They walked nearer and nearer, until Mac was just two meters away from the nearest Bubbles, who smiled at him in the brightest way possible.

He felt sweat coming down his cheeks and he fought the urge to scream. _I seriously hope you're right,_ he said inwardly while he watched the fifth Boomer, _because if you're not… we're done for._

"What is going on here?!"

Everybody suddenly stopped. Mac almost believed he was going nuts himself. _Impossible!  
_

The sound of an object _hopping_ on the floor didn't leave any doubts. Mr. Herriman appeared in the centre of the crowd, and he looked like he was fully back into business!

"Don't you know that it is forbidden to voluntarily scare your fellow imaginary friends?" he started, looking at the Bubbleses, "By now I expected better from you!"

"But we didn't want to scare them!" a blonde girl protested.

"I'm afraid that ignorance is not a good reason to not obey the rules," Mr. Herriman replied. He approached one of the four Boomers, who were still terrified and basically frozen in place, and placed a hand under his chin, while his other palm was left open near the poor imaginary friends' side in an explaining manner. "To me, this is a perfect example of terror, and there's no reason to think that you aren't the cause of it, young miss," he said, directly talking with the one Bubbles who had tried to justify her actions.

The Bubbles stared at the shocked expression of her imaginary counterpart… and slowly looked down in shame. Not long after, all of her companions did the same, suddenly realizing what they had been doing.

"I hope you will now ponder over your future approaches with other imaginary friends," the imaginary rabbit stated before turning towards the Boomers and Mac. "And as for you, do not believe I don't have words for you as well!"

Mac was a bit exasperated, "Now what would we have done wrong? They're the ones who've been chasing me in the first place!"

"You know very well, Master Mac, that there were wiser solutions than running around the house to the point of spreading panic. While I admit you indeed were scared, for motives that most would deem questionable, if not humorous, you should have taken your responsibilities in regard to the order in the house."

Mac groaned, while the Boomers behind him scratched their heads. They weren't really following what the imaginary friend had been talking about, while Mac just thought that despite his period of rest, Mr. Herriman had not changed one bit.

"Now, I suggest you to make your way towards the more frequented quarters of Foster's, before you lose your way in zones you don't know… except for you, Master Mac."

The Bubbles nodded and walked away quietly, not anymore comparable to an unstoppable horde, while Mac's four mates followed them from behind, yelling at their fifth copy for surrendering to a supposedly 'girl way'.

After the departure of the imaginary blues, Mac was surprised to see Mr. Herriman sigh and adjust his monocle. "Now, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be… Master Mac, while we ourselves return to our destination, would you please update me about what happened to Foster's while I was unavailable?" he said as he began to move forward.

Mac walked to keep up with the hopping friend. "Well, not very much has changed. We've been making progress, and a good chunk of the new imaginary friends have actually settled pretty well, but most of them still continue to cause mischief that Bloo would be proud of."

"That is frightening to say the least. Do not worry, Master Mac, I've thought over the current situation at Foster's during the unfortunate interruption of my work, and while the circumstances we find ourselves in are indeed dire I'm sure that by working hard we will be able to restore order and let every single guest of Foster's be in peace."

Mac rolled his eyes. Mr. Herimman could show a surprising resolve when he wanted, but he had his doubts about being able to keep everyone under control.

Not that it didn't stop him from at least _hoping_ that things would keep getting better.

* * *

Lil' Arturo joined the rest of the Gangreen Gang. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Big Billy already there, but he rapidly lost interest. The giant gang member could be fast when he wanted, and it wouldn't have surprised him if he jumped out of the bed only to arrive there before and annoy him.

Before Arturo could tell him anything, Ace went forward to greet him. "Finally, we were beginning to get worried!"

"Maria badly needed cleaning," Arturo justified, patting the pocket where his beloved swiss knife rested, "and _she_ couldn't wait."

"Yeah, yeah, right," the gang leader cut the speech short, "have you at least got something for _tomorrow_ while you were gone?"

Arturo nodded with a wicked smile. "I'm sure that we're going to throw quite the party this Friday…"

"Couldn't agree more, Arturo," a _female_ voice intervened. Big Billy and Snake joined the rest of the gang as they all listened to what the imaginary woman with tentacle-like hair had to say. "It's safe to think that everything is ready. Boys, remember what your role is and I assure you…" she grinned before finishing, "…no one at Foster's will ever forget what the Gangreen Gang and _Sedusa_ have done!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two chapters are left, but unfortunately time for writing will (again) be scarce in the following months. I'll try hard to complete the story as soon as possible, but I cannot make any promises other than a generic 'Summer'.


	6. Day Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the longest, most complex, and, to put it simply, the HARDEST one to write. With this one I really had to convince myself to persist in writing… to be honest, the full story has been hard to work on. I still like the idea behind this fanfiction, but continuing it without a first draft or scheme to follow after so many months was not an easy task, and I'm afraid that the end result did suffer from my early errors. I won't lie, I want to move on to new stuff, but I'm not leaving one of my stories unfinished if I can do something about it.
> 
> Thankfully, with this chapter the hard part has been finished. Next chapter is the final one, and since it will be shorter and I already know how it will play out, it should take less time to be posted.

* * *

**FRIDAY**

* * *

 

With the weekend just a few hours away, one would expect that at Foster's the general mood would be positive. An expectation that would prove to be erroneous, and bring jinx on the long run as well.

It was already five o'clock in the afternoon when Mac, much like the previous Sunday, found himself walking towards Frankie Foster's room. He had just abandoned Bloo after the last of his schemes had resulted in a disaster and, thus, a runaway, and he had randomly decided to pay a visit to the redhead, since he hadn't seen her yet that day. After all, Wilt, Eduardo and Coco were probably still busy trying to escape from the Mojo Jojos Bloo had successfully made furious.

He reached the door and knocked on it without further waste of time. "Oh, please don't tell me Herriman wants me again!" came an exasperated voice from inside.

"Actually no, it's just me, Mac," the boy reassured. "The others have told me you've not showed up since lunch today. Did something happen?"

"Oh, no, I'm good Mac. Come in," she said. Mac entered the room and found that the young woman was currently lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. No earbuds, no book or magazine, no mobile phone, Frankie looked like she was contemplating zen itself.

"…are you sure?" Mac said, not convinced.

"Yeah. I'm just, you know… trying to ease my mind for a while. Sheesh… Mac, I know you've been here literally every day since, you know… their arrival, and you have a pretty good idea of how much a great surge of imaginary friends in a single day can be problematic, especially if they're inspired by an action-packed television series. But nothing that I remember was like this… not even dealing with the armies of imaginary friends Goo used to create everytime she came here was this hard!"

Frankie put her hands on her face. "I just want everyone to be happy and in peace with each other for a little while, but there's simply too much of them… me and Herriman have even decided to set aside our clashing ideas and work  _together_ to keep the friends under control, but there are still problems popping up!"

She whirled over the bed and hid her head into the pillow. "Not even my grandma has much advice to share. We're all out of options…  _ugh."_

"Hey, it's been rough, I know, but you cannot deny most of the new imaginary friends have been at least  _trying_ to get along with each other and the others!" Mac said, but his tone deceived him. It was clear he wasn't sure about his own words.

Frankie chuckled. "Yeah, that's true… in part. Yet, we're still a long way to be like we used to before  _they_  came. I don't know if I'll be able to survive another week…"

"Maybe we won't have to. Tomorrow's Adopt-a-Friend Saturday, isn't it?"

Frankie rotated once again and, while she continued to rest her head on the mattress, she looked at the kid. "Mmh-mmh. But what do you think, Mac? We're going to see them leave, or we'll end up 'welcoming' even more?"

"Now you're just being pessimistic," Mac said. He mechanically placed his hands on his hips, and he angrily blurted out, "One Blooregard Q. Kazoo is enough, thank you very much!"

Frankie opened her eyes in shock for a moment, then she suddenly burst out laughing. Mac realized that he had talked without thinking and he turned away before the woman could see that his cheeks had reddened.

She recovered her breath while sitting up on the bed and took the green pullover she had previously abandoned on the far end. "Now that's one way of saying it. Thanks, Mac, I definitely needed that!"

"Uhh… yeah, you're, uhm, welcome…" Mac stammered. Frankie kept her smile and got up, before playfully messing up his hair a bit. "Don't worry, I promise I will never reach 'Blooregard Q. Kazoo' levels of pessimism!"

Mac remained silent and forced himself to follow her out of her room, even though he persisted in staring at the ground. By the time they were both in the hallway, Frankie brought a hand to her chin while saying, "Now, what's next?"

The interphone system suddenly powered up, and while the static played out, Frankie and Mac exchanged a glance.

_What a bad choice of words._

"Argh!" Frankie groaned. "This may either be Herriman with a chore ready or the Amoeba Boys trying again to annoy us with their-"

"FRIENDSSSS!" a voice interjected through the megaphones. Not Mr. Herriman, and definitely not Bossman, Slim or Junior. "I have an urgent messssage for you! Pleasssse, come all to the main atrium at once… We have a  _sssssurprise_  for you!"

Mac and Frankie didn't think about it twice. "I have a very bad feeling about this…" Mac commented. The image of the Mojo Jojo imaginary friend who had warned him more than once passed before his eyes, and he inwardly hoped that this wasn't the start of what the chimpanzee had predicted.

"It's two of us, then. C'mon, let's get to the foyer before anyone else does!" Frankie ordered, and soon the two were on their way, running through the hallways. Already they could hear the noises in the distance of crowds of imaginary friends moving.

They did not have much time.

* * *

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" Bossman growled.

"Yeah!" Slim and Junior agreed.

"We ain't going to let this slide, greenish teen! Now you'll give back what righteously belongs to us!"

Snake observed the three protist specimen in front of him… before scratching his head in confusion. He put the microphone back into its place on the wall and said, "I think I do not undersssstand… what is yours that I'd have taken?"

Bossman suddenly changed his demeanour to a dubious one… "Uhhh… uhm… oh, right! Copyright infringement!"

Snake raised an eyebrow.

"Don't play the fool with me!" Bossman continued, "What you have just done is… ours! I mean, we already had the idea before, and we've been using it non-stop yesterday, and the day before!"

"Wait, so it wasssss you…" Snake linked the dots. His reptilian-eyes slowly grew a threatening glow.

"Eh, yeah, of course!" Slim proudly confirmed, "Even though everyone was laughing at us for some reason…"

Snake was not happy. While the amoebas had been saying nothing but bad jokes, pitiful jabs and debatable attempts at being annoying, they had indeed used the megaphone system of Foster's for the entirety of the previous day. His ears weren't exactly satisfied by it, and Snake almost lost it when, the night before, the Amoeba Boys woke up half of the house (including him) with their umpteenth attempt.

Before he could proceed in telling them how he was going to make them go into lysis, he heard footsteps behind him. The amoebas and the gangrene member watched a group of non-themed imaginary friends, and behind them they heard voices.

"Guys, stop!"

"We don't know who sent the message! It might be a prank!"

When he saw the figure of a red-coloured ponytail over the crowd, Snake knew he had to run or face the consequences. He promptly whirled around and moved forward, but unfortunately, he had forgotten about the three amoebas who were arguing with him seconds before and he ended up bumping into them.

They all fell to the ground and Snake found himself entrapped into plasma membranes. He quickly tried to free himself, but his struggles were to no avail. "Let me go!" Snake shouted, anger and fear getting the better of him, even if the Amoeba Boys were already trying themselves to free their bodies from the reptilian's limbs. "I can't! Stop moving, you're messing my metabolism!" Junior protested, only to earn two surprised looks by Bossman and Slim. "What? Uhh, I read it in a book…"

"You can  _read?!"_

But before they could discuss any further, a booming voice cut them off. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

The amoebas and Snake slowly turned their heads and faced an angry Frankie Foster.  _Please, do not recognize me… please…_

"She's a fan of the cartoon, you know…" Mac said, giving the impression he had read Snake's mind.

_Dang._

"GO!" the imaginary teen yelled, and soon he and his three dumb companions attempted a quick retreat. Snake tumbled basically right away but he did not touch the ground as his body was literally carried by the frightened amoebas, who surprisingly moved fast.

Their efforts, however, were defied when after the first turn to change direction they suddenly found themselves face to face with Coco. Frankie and Mac crossed the intersection of the hallways only to see Snake and the amoebas lying on the ground and crying for mercy while Coco cooed angrily at them.

Frankie rolled her eyes, unimpressed. She motioned Coco to leave the four fugitives alone before going to their side and picking up Snake from the back of his shirt (and, therefore, lifting the Amoeba Boys as well).

"Now, now… I think  _you_  must give us a good explanation," Frankie calmly said with an icing glare, making Snake and his eukaryotic companions gulp.

"And you  _better do it."_

* * *

"Gee, first the Amoeba Boys and then this… do they really think we'll actually believe their baloney?"

Bloo stood corrected when five imaginary friends passed running in front of him, Eduardo and Wilt. The three of them had managed to get away from the Mojos minutes before, even though they had lost Coco in the chaos. Bloo had no intention to begin running again, but Wilt and Eduardo knew that something was up.

"This might be more than a simple prank, Bloo," Wilt said. "We should check it out, just to be sure…"

"But Señor Bloo is right, it can really be just a joke, maybe an innocent one!"

Wilt watched the Mexican imaginary friend with a blank stare. "Eduardo…"

"Oh, I know, I know! It's just… I'm worried."

"Me too, Ed. We might get involved anyway if we don't do anything, though," Wilt explained. The three of kept walking while they talked, and they did not realize that they were going to enter one of the intersection chambers of Foster.

"Listen Wilt, how about we try to do something like  _not_ getting involved? I'm sure that's possible as well!" Bloo replied.

"I'm sorry, Bloo, but that's just egoistic. Don't you want to-…"

"IMAGINARY FRIENDS!"

The three of them finally discovered where they had wandered into. There was a mixed group of imaginary friends filling the chamber, most of them being Powerpuff Girls-themed. Their gazes were all fixed on the balcony of the first floor of the chamber, where someone was giving a speech. Wilt was the first one able to focus on whoever was doing the talking.

" _Oh, no…"_

"It is my pleasure to make this announcement today!" Sedusa spoke without a hint of hesitance, "Today is the day where you will remember me as the one who got this entire foster home in chaos!"

"She's scary!" Eduardo exclaimed.

"She looks dumb," Bloo commented. "Let's get out of here, this is ridiculous."

"And to show you lucky people how serious I am, I have a little appetizer for you! Big Billy!"

The stout Gangreen Gang member marched to Sedusa's side, carrying a bag as big as him and full of something… rattling. Big Billy nodded before raising the bag over his head and throwing it forward, over the crowd of imaginary friends, where the bag fractured and its contents were released.

The ear-piercing noises of hundreds of scribbles invaded the chamber.

"What in the-  _them?_  AGAIN?!" Bloo was not surprised by the appearance of the hovering imaginary friend. Instead, he was rather  _irritated_  by it. "Oh, give me a break! Is that supposed to scare us? This is more annoying because it's so lame than anything!"

"Bloo, that's true for us… but not for  _them!"_

Wilt's affirmation was confirmed a second after, when the scribbles began to land around the imaginary friends. The few bystanders who were Foster's veterans were not that preoccupied, alright, but the themed imaginary friends had never seen something like this before. Soon, some screams erupted around the crowd, someone else began running, and combined with the scribbles all around the chamber turned into a pandemonium in less than a minute.

Bloo couldn't help but sigh before he and his two friends were run over by the stampede.

_Just my luck._

* * *

"THIS ISSSSS ALL I KNOW! HAVE MERCY!"

…

"Good, that's enough."

Frankie let Snake fall on the ground… with the three amoebas, too shocked in fear to say or do anything, still stuck with him. The gangreen member immediately started to crawl away, whimpering like a little kid, but his three companions prevented him from walking properly. Thus, Snake, faithful to his name, had to  _slither_ away from the supposed monstrosity that was Frankie, using the cell bodies of the Amoeba Boys as rollers.

Mac and Coco stared at Frankie like they were right in front of a terrifying beast. Then, Coco shook her head before saying, "Cocococo cocooo…"

Frankie shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just asked them…"

Coco looked at Frankie with an unperturbed face.

"…uh, all right, maybe I overdid it a little, but you have to understand! The stress these last few days have been driving me nuts!"

Mac decided that he better forget about what he had just witnessed to. "Okay… okay. Let's get back to the problem at hand. They're preparing something  _big_ in the foyer, so I guess that has the priority!"

Frankie nodded. "I'll take care of that, and heaven forbid if I get my hands on the imaginary friends who planned all of this…"

"Cocococo cocococo coco!"

"Right. Me and Coco will go find the others and see if we can stop Arturo and Big Billy, who shouldn't be too far according to what Snake has told us."

"Understood," Frankie began moving even before finishing to speak, "I gotta go. Herriman might have already lost it! Be careful and stop those imaginary friends before they cause more mayhem if you can!"

She disappeared behind a corner and Mac and Coco, after checking each other for a moment, ran into the opposite direction. During their short travel, they encountered some running imaginary friends as well, and the rumours of a second release of scribbles were confirmed when they saw a few of them floating around, more than one time flying behind escaping themed friends. Mac and Coco tried their best to convince the scared imaginary friends that there was no actual danger coming from the weird hovering scribbles, but the results weren't the best. "I'M NOT LETTING THAT THING GET NEAR ME, PERIOD!" a Professor shouted back before resuming his retreat.

Mac sighed and continued to run with Coco. "If people weren't convinced by the message, this may actually result in everyone getting in the foyer one way or another. I just hope we can find Ed, Bloo and Wilt before-…"

"AAARGH!"

The booming steps of a Mexican imaginary friend running for his life came to Coco and Mac's ears, and soon enough Eduardo appeared.

"Eduardo! Ed! ED!"

"COCOOO!"

Eduardo finally heard that someone was calling him and realized he was going to run over Mac and Coco. He came to a screeching halt and let himself fall on his back right in front of his two friends. Mac and Coco moved to his side and entered his line of sight.

"Ed, are you all right?" Mac asked in concern.

Eduardo did not respond at first. Eventually, he raised a feeble paw and whispered, " _Sì,_ just a little tired…"

Coco didn't have enough patience to let the horned friend have one minute of rest. She began to storm him with questions: "Cococococo? Cocococo cococo! Cococococo?!"

"Coco, wait! Let him have a second!" Mac protested, but Eduardo startled them both by standing up on his own and massaging his own head. "No, she's right, Señor Mac. I know… me, Señor Bloo and Señor Wilt have seen the scribbles being freed again! There was this big, green imaginary friend who carried them all, and there was this scary female one with all her air like living snakes!"

 _Big Billy and Sedusa. And we already know of that,_ Mac thought as Coco asked for more information.

"I don't know… I'm sorry. Everybody was frightened and there was a huge ruckus, I don't even know where Wilt and Bloo are!"

"Calm down, Ed. We have… uhh, we convinced one of those bullies to spill the beans and we now know what they're planning!" Mac filled in. "We just have to find Wilt and Bloo and then we can move to stop-…"

"Big Billy doesn't like what he heard!"

Coco, Mac and Eduardo moved their sights to the giant form that was the biggest and strongest Gangreen Gang member.

"Big Billy will not let you ruin his friends' day! Billy will squash you!"

"Uh-oh…" Mac said. Without further delay, Big Billy charged forward and jumped in the air with stunning agility. Coco and Mac moved away just a moment before he landed over them.

Eduardo did the only thing he could think of: screaming and start to run around in fright. Big Billy immediately began to go after him, "Stop moving and fight!" he shouted, but Eduardo had no intention of facing him in a one-on-one melee.

Mac didn't like how the situation was evolving. They needed something to stall Big Billy… but what could possibly-?

"Coco!"

Mac watched the bird-palm-plane imaginary friend and discovered she had laid another coloured egg. Without questioning Coco, Mac picked up the egg and opened it to reveal its contents.

"Coco!" Mac complained, "How are a few marbles going to help us against that goliath over there?"

Coco limited herself to smirk and pecked at Mac's hand, forcing him to release the marbles in front of them. Mac didn't even have the time to yelp before the bird emitted a strong 'COCO!' in the air, capturing Big Billy's attention.

And the raspberry she did afterwards definitely made the gangreen giant focus on her.

"Nobody makes fun of Big Billy!" he cried before zapping towards her. Mac noticed how Coco had put herself behind the area where the marbles were scattered around and realized what her plan was.

"Coco!" Mac tried to use a hushed tone, "That's not going to work! This is no cartoon we're talking about!"

Coco had other ideas, as was evident by her smug look. And in the end, she was the one who had the last laugh, since Big Billy completely failed to see the marbles and was literally thrown in the air when he stepped over the first one. He did an involuntary double-take in the air before ending his flight on a wall with a loud  _'THUD!'._

"Ow…" the gangreen gang member moaned in defeat. Mac sighed and ignored the victory look on Coco's face. "It's not over yet. We have to restrain him somehow…"

"No problem, young boy!" a pair of voices said together. Mac and Coco found out that Eduardo had been calmed down and accompanied back to them by two Professor Utoniums. "We'll deal with Billy ourselves. Bad boy needs a lesson after all!"

"Oww…" Billy moaned again.

"…or maybe he's already learned how to behave. But in any case, don't worry! We will keep an eye on him ourselves!"

"I hope so…" Mac said. Frankie had told him about the results of a pair of Professors' attempts at helping with Foster's crowd control. He accepted the help of the two Utoniums nonetheless: they had friends to find and there were still three Gangreen Gang members roaming around… not to mention the mastermind herself.

* * *

"That should do it!" Ace said to himself before standing up and checking his work. He had found the perfect place for the canister and he was sure it would have served its purpose in Sedusa's plan perfectly. He looked around the foyer of Foster's to see only a few scattered imaginary friends, themed and non-themed, walking around and whispering to each other, too much preoccupied to care about him. Ace wasn't stupid, though, and he casually walked towards the next location where to put another smoke canister, acting like he did not worry about anything. He did not want unwanted attention, after all.

There was an imaginary friend, however, who knew better than to let a rascal as Ace on the loose, especially given the huge grin the gangreen teen couldn't help but don on his face. Therefore, before Ace could sit down to start placing the next charge, he heard  _hops_ behind him. He turned around and was annoyed to find out that in front of him there was a tall imaginary rabbit.

"What are you doing, fine Master?" Mr. Herriman asked politely… even though the ' _fine'_ was said with a somewhat sarcastic accent.

"Just hanging around, Harry," Ace replied, shrugging. "Don't worry, I have absolutely  _no_  intentions of doing anything bad. You can go and see what's going on with the other imaginary friends going around for some reason…"

"I believe you, of all people, know what this  _reason_ is… don't you, Master Ace?"

Ace's patience ran thin fast. "Look, bunny boy, I don't have time to listen to your history lessons, so just hop away and let the both of us mind our own business!"

His reply wasn't just born from simple irritation. Ace knew that Mr. Herriman had just left from a period of rest and he knew  _why_  the imaginary rabbit had been forced to endure such period. He thought that by acting like he did not care at all what Herriman wanted him to do or say, he would just go crazy again.

However, Mr. Herriman remained impassive. "This is such an uneducated behaviour…"

"Nobody acts so with my imaginary friend!" said a voice. Madame Foster appeared from behind Herriman, shaking her stick in the air angrily. Ace chuckled at the scene: "What? Is that supposed to scare me or what? Grandma, you may have to realize you're no more the age to- OW!"

Ace retracted his hurt hand, only to see the other one hit by the stick as well. "OUCH! Stop it, woman!"

Madame Foster didn't stop and soon enough Ace had to begin running to escape the wrath of Foster's founder. Mr. Herriman observed the scene with a deadpan look, and he did not raise a finger to stop the beating.

After a minute, the short old woman decided to end the punishment and Ace had a moment to recover his breath and check if his bones were still all in one piece. "Where… Where did you learn to hit that hard?!" he asked in discomfort.

"There's more in me than the looks, young man!" Madame Foster proclaimed. "Now, I guess you've learned your lesson and you will stop whatever you were doing, am I right?"

For a moment Ace considered responding with a retort, but he glanced at Madame Foster's walking stick and decided against it. "Right."

"Good to hear, Master Ace," Herriman said, "You may now take your leave and return to your room, where you'll surely be able to ponder over your actions."

"And probably get a crutch… Ow…" Ace muttered. He quickly escaped before any of the two could comment or retaliate.

Mr. Herriman finally sighed. "Madame… Was that really needed? Violence is never the best option…"

"Sometimes, though, it gets the job done!"

Mr. Herriman dismissed the answer with a hand gesture. "Let us forget this ever happened and see what we can do about the other imaginary friends. There are more and more coming… Where is Miss Francis when she is needed?"

"I'm sure Frankie is already on her way, dear," Madame Foster reassured. "We just have to calm down the ones already here before they get too much nervous for comfort!"

"Your faith in your granddaughter is not something I can say I fully share, but I understand your line of thought. I just hope she can stop this before madness ensues again… I might not be able to bear it a second time."

* * *

"Bloo? Bloo?" Wilt called while running down a corridor. "Eduardo? …Coco?"

The tall imaginary friend had lost both his companions in the frenzy that followed the liberation of the scribbles. Wilt had no way to stop them, especially Eduardo who had run away in fright almost instantly, and he was by now looking for them. Wilt wasn't that concerned about their well-being per se, but he had some worrying ideas about what the themed imaginary friends that went by the names of Sedusa and the Gangreen Gang could do and he didn't like the prospect of either him or his friends being alone in facing another 'prank'.

Finally, Wilt heard someone coming down his way… but, unfortunately, it wasn't Bloo.

Lil' Arturo walked down the hallway with the biggest grin in his face. He was so happy he was whistling a motif, wobbling his head along with the rhythm. He wasn't completely distracted though so he noticed the tall imaginary friend as soon as Wilt saw him. The two of them came to a stand-off as Arturo glanced him up and down, despite his short height, and Wilt looked at him with a reprimanding look, since he knew who he was affiliated with.

"I'm sorry, but I think you and your friends should stop what you're going to do right now!" Wilt finally said.

"Pardon? I think I missed that line," Arturo said while narrowing his eyes. He believed Wilt to be a random imaginary friend and not a straggler from the 'pre-show' staged by Sedusa and Big Billy.

"I said that you really should put a hold to your pranks. It's already been hard on its own these last few days at Foster's, and we don't need you all to add fuel to the fire!" Wilt put his hand on his hip, "Can't you see we're all trying to overcome our differences to live in peace?"

Lil' Arturo failed to do what Wilt wondered he could do or not. What he could see right now was an obstacle to  _his_  own plan, one that started with a little modification to the laundry room, and he wasn't giving up on it so soon. No matter the cost.

Wilt made a step back when Arturo suddenly switched to a fighting stance. "Come on!" he taunted, "Get over here and beat me if you really want to stop me!"

Wilt raised an eyebrow in reply. "Hey, I didn't want to threaten you! I'm sorry! There's no need to resort to-…"

A war cry was heard and a blue blob basically ran over Arturo from behind.

"…-fighting," Wilt finished as he watched in awe Bloo and Arturo's brawl. "YOU IDIOTS!" Bloo roared, "YA ALL GONNA PAY FOR IT!"

Wilt noticed that a little far away from the two lay the remains of what used to be Bloo's paddle ball. He put two and two together and guessed what had angered the blue blob so much… even though he had a hunch there was more to it than just the broken toy.

Nonetheless, the surprise factor was short lived and soon Lil' Arturo revealed himself to be a much better brawler than Mac's creation. In a grand total of fifty second Bloo passed from having the upper hand to being constricted to the ground, face first, with Arturo's feet on his back, blocking him with no way to escape.

"You may have the strength, but it is of no use without control!" Arturo affirmed. "Now it is time for you to have a personal meeting with Maria!"

"Who is Maria?"

Bloo heard a  _'swing'_ and the form of Arturo's swiss knife appeared in front of his face.

"You can't be serious!" Wilt suddenly interjected, aghast. "That's dangerous!"

Lil' Arturo glanced at him. "What do you think I am? I was just going to scare him. Maria's made of plastic…"

Wilt sighed in relief as Bloo grew red in face since he had already begun screaming for help. "It doesn't really matter. You two must now realize that there is no stopping me, nor any of the others…"

"That's where you're wrong, Lil' Arturo!"

Those words were spoken not by Wilt. It was a myriad of voices, all of them female and rasp.

Arturo slowly turned around and was met by a series of brunette heads and green eyes who were all watching him with intense, intimidating glares.

"Uhh… well, girls, let's talk about it, shall we?" Lil' Arturo laughed. A second later, he was running away, with about ten Buttercups in hot pursuit after him.

Bloo stood up, coughing and cleaning himself. "Stupid fake swiss knife… stupid green-skinned minthead… stupid-"

"Hey, you're alright?"

Bloo replied without thinking, "Yep, of course I'm all right! I've been chased by a pack of imaginary chimpanzees, swarmed by an army of panicking friends, and now THIS! Of course I'm 'all right'!"

"Wow, talk about a 'thank you' for savin' your butt, blobby boy."

Bloo turned hastily towards the insulting voice… only to realize he was talking with a Buttercup. Her, and the various copies of her all around him. All of them wearing disgruntled faces.

"Ahem, don't mind him, girls, Bloo's a bit worked up today, with all the oddities that've happening today…" Wilt tried to justify. The Buttercups glanced at him, then back to Bloo who seemed to be rather worried by the situation, and eventually they all shrugged. "Nevermind. About those 'oddities'… What do you know? We've been trying to understand what's been going on," one of the Buttercups asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know much more than you do," Wilt informed. "We've just escaped from one of the saloons inside Foster. Sedusa and Big Billy have made everyone panic by letting loose a swarm of scribbles."

"Those flying dust thingies? That explains why the Professor was so scared…"

"Mine too."

"Mine three."

"I might not be Blossom, but it's clear that they're up to no good. We better go to the foyer and see what's up!"

"Yeah! Maybe somethin' actually fun's going to happen now!"

Wilt agreed with them… on going to the foyer. Not on the watching something fun part. But he didn't even have the chance to protest as a trio of Buttercups grabbed his hand and literally pulled him with them as they began running. Poor Bloo had a similar destiny since he was literally lifted by four of them and carried away despite his screams.

Wilt didn't rebel… if he had learned anything about the green-eyed imaginary girls, it was that going against their will would have worsened your situation. On the good side, him and Bloo were no more alone.

He only hoped that his remaining friends would manage to reach the foyer safe and sound.

* * *

Frankie was running… and right at her side, Mojo Jojo was running as well. Ignoring the repeated stumbles on his purple cape, the imaginary evil genius had managed to keep up with Frankie's pace, much to the redhead's annoyance. It was the 'good' Mojo Jojo, who wanted Frankie's full attention on his supposedly very important news.

"You have to listen to me! And you'll do it now!"

"I told you I already know everything I need!"

"I told you that's not true, stubborn human! You don't know yet the full extent of Sedusa's plan, Francis Foster!"

"And I told you that whatever she's going to do, we'll stop her  _before_ she succeeds! And call me  _Frankie!"_

The insistence of this Mojo Jojo wasn't easy to ignore. Frankie was considering to just shout at him to get out of her way when an appearance in front of them made them both halt in their tracks.

"One of Sedusa's servants! You won't win today, impudent fool! Not if I, Mojo Jojo, have something to say in it, since it will be mine and only mine the decision about whether to let Foster's home fall in chaos or not!" the Mojo Jojo proclaimed.

"PPRRRRR!" Grubber replied. He pointed a finger at Frankie before continuing his spluttering: "PRRRR! PRRR PRRR PR-PR-PRRRRR!"

"He knows, Francis Foster, that you are on your way to stop the villainess…" Mojo Jojo stated. Frankie did not feel threatened, though. "Listen, Grubber… I'm not in my best mood, today. Please, just let me stop this madness before we all regret it!"

All Grubber did in answer was drawing out a weapon. Or at least what was supposed to be a weapon since he started to brandish a chimney's poker like it was a sword of some sort.

 _Really?_ Frankie would have laughed out loud if she wasn't worried about the possible disaster looming over them. She made a step forward with the intention to simply disarm the greenish swordsman, but before she could do anything a series of cries was heard. "PPRR?" Grubber could only say before he was overwhelmed by a storm of red and pink.

Half a minute later, Frankie and Mojo Jojo were staring dumbfounded at a tied-up and saddened Grubber, with about fifteen Blossoms standing around him with proud stances.

"Uuuh… thank you?" Frankie said unsurely.

"You're very welcome! It is in our blood to stand in the way of  _evil_  and stop whatever evil doer stands in  _our_  way!" a Blossom announced.

"And that includes you, Mojo! No matter how much you've been helping… we're watching you!" a second one said. Mojo Jojo frowned but did not reply.

"Well, that was a little uncalled for... but it did help. I think Grubber here now understands there's nothing left for him to do, does he?" Frankie said while watching the imprisoned gangreen member.

"Prrr…" Grubber admitted.

"Right. It's best if I go to the foyer now… right now I should already be there!"

"Yes! Come quick, Miss Francis!" another Blossom said, grabbing one of Frankie's hand and pulling the redhead with her and her sisters. "Some of us have seen Sedusa moving to get there as well!"

Realizing he was being left behind, Mojo Jojo bellowed in protest as he resumed his own pursuit: "Where do you think you're going, Miss Francis? You still have to hear my words and-"

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, CALL ME  _FRANKIE!"_

The group eventually disappeared behind a corner… leaving Grubber alone. Who, after a few moments, realized he had been left by himself and immobilized.

" **PRRRRR!"**

* * *

Eduardo, Mac and Coco's search for their remaining friends was, unfortunately, short-lived. In fact, it took them two minutes to encounter a group of annoyed Powerpuff villains roaming around, who of course didn't think twice about accusing them.

"No! We didn't do anything!"

"Ah! You say so, huh? They're all the same, these plebs…" Princess Morebucks One exclaimed.

"Liars from birth!" Princess Morebucks Two added.

"I have not endured the irritating presence of the two bratty villains here only to receive another 'no' as an answer! I, Mojo Jojo, demand an  _explanation_ for the lack of control of this house, or  _I_  will take control from now on and do what the mediocre heads of Foster's couldn't do!" Mojo Jojo One affirmed.

"By taking my orders, obviously, since  _I,_ the one and only, Mojo Jojo, should be the one to reign over this pathetic home!" Mojo Jojo Two corrected.

And soon, the four imaginary friends were arguing with each other. Mac wasn't surprised but he was sure exasperated, while Eduardo and Coco simply shrugged. Before they could take their leave, though, another group of imaginary friends, all Powerpuff-themed, entered the picture. And this time, they weren't there to worsen the situation.

" **SHUDDUP!"**

The two Mojos and the two Pricesses immediately silenced their bickering at the roaring order, and looked at the source. No other than Fuzzy Lumpkins!

"I might not be a wiz, but I sure as heck am not stupid!" he proclaimed. Behind him, a pair of imaginary friends nodded… two different Fuzzy Lumpkins. And behind them there was a sea of blue-eyed, blonde imaginary girls.

"So that's why you four are going to keep your mouths shut, or you'll regret it!" the front Fuzzy threatened, only to hear an answer in the form of laughing.

"Hahahah! You, of all people? And how you'll make us do it, pinkie?" Princess Morebucks Two said.

Fuzzy remained surprisingly calm as he snapped his fingers. A moment later, the two Princesses and the two Mojos were in the air, lifted by the two other Fuzzies. The imaginary brats protested vehemently while the Mojos were angered by the lack of respect and complete uncalled action since they had remained silent, but in the end, they were all ignored.

"Ed!" Fuzzy suddenly shifted his mood and went to greet his friend (at least for him). "Always fooling around and looking for trouble, eh?"

"Uhh… Actually, I-…" Eduardo began.

"You don't have to tell me! I know very well how boring life can be in a mansion like this one for someone like you!" Fuzzy interrupted. He made a signal towards his two companions while continuing, "Me and my two buddies here were just making our way towards the foyer to see what's all the fuss about. Care joining us, Ed? Your friends can come, too!"

Seeing a Fuzzy Lumpkins have such a behaviour was truly stunning. Eduardo simply nodded since he did not have the courage to speak, and so he began walking with the three Fuzzies (and their four prisoners). Mac and Coco were left without options, so they quickly followed them without making questions.

At least that was until Mac remembered that the Fuzzies were not alone when they had arrived. He looked back only to see at least ten pairs of blue eyes staring him down.

_ARGH!_

"Wait, Mac, don't panic! We don't want to hurt you, we would never do so!" one of the Bubbles quickly said in worry. The faces of the other imaginary girls matched her tone… they weren't looking at him with the same look of the swarm which had tried to abduct him the day before. They were  _preoccupied._

Too much frightened to understand what was going on, Mac still resorted to move behind Coco, who rolled her eyes at the scene, while they all moved to keep up with the four imaginary beasts in front of them.

"Listen, Mac… we understand," one of the Bubbleses began. "We were part of the group who was a bit too much… excited to hang out with you, yesterday. We never meant to scare you, harm you or anything… we didn't think about it, and we've been stupid to do so."

"So," another Bubbles interjected, "we're very sorry… would you forgive us? Pretty please?"

Mac did not feel any kind of resent towards the imaginary girls, if he had to be honest. He was scared beyond any limit, alright, but he knew that the Bubbleses didn't actually  _want_  to change his life into a living heck.

Not that he was willing now to accept their pleas. What if it was a trap of sorts? They would offer their hand, he would shake it and then they would pull him away from Coco, kidnap him and then-

Mac noticed how Coco was firing a piercing glare at him. "Cocooo…"

"Ugh…" Mac sighed. For an imaginary friend who only said 'coco', the bird-palm-plane sure knew how to guess what went in her friends' minds. Mac gathered all the courage he could muster before saying, "Uhh… yeah, of course I forgive you. Just try not to be that, uhm… enthusiastic, okay?"

The answer was a collective cry of joy followed by a flood of questions and requests of attention… along with various offers for help and service. Right on the moment Mac looked like he was going to pass out, but then he realized they were keeping their distance, yet giving their full attention to him. And the possible ways of using this attention crossed his mind.

… _huh. Maybe this isn't going to be THAT bad._

* * *

Sedusa descended down the stairs that brought to Foster's foyer with the smuggest look in existence. As she had premeditated, her appearance had quite the effect on the crowd that by now filled the atrium. The themed imaginary friends were either irritated by or curious about her presence, while the non-themed ones were confused, unsure about what the imaginary criminal had in her mind.

All of them were surprised: Sedusa had worked for this for the last few days and had made sure that only a selected few could see her. No one ever suspected of anything… except for that vexing Mojo Jojo of course, but it was already too late for him to do anything.

She grinned before launching herself into a laughing spectacle. "Friends!" she shouted, beginning her speech, "I guess the invitation has been successful, hasn't it?"

Somewhere behind the lines of the public, a formal voice was heard protesting, but nobody paid attention. They had eyes for no one but Sedusa right now.

_Perfect._

"It's time for you all to realize the extent of the 'surprise' that's been prepared for you. It is my duty to make sure that you all learn what are the implications of living in the same home with me!" Sedusa recited her words like the best thriller-actress on the market, and her words apparently struck gold since she saw the first signs of fright in the eyes of a few imaginary friends.

"The lesson, my friends… starts NOW!" she announced, before tapping the secret remote controller she had hidden in one of her hands, her face twisted into a sadistic grin.

…

…

The grin suddenly changed into an astonished expression.

"What!?" Sedusa said to herself as she checked the remote with her eyes and pressed the button again, paying no more mind to secrecy. Yet, nothing happened.

"Ugh! Morons!" the imaginary criminal exclaimed while tapping again and again, until she had enough of it and she simply dropped the remote, before staring at the crowd who was watching her with even more confusion or, much to her dismay, amusement.  _Laugh as much as you want… I still have Plan B with me._

"I know what you're thinking, and the answer is a no. This ends now."

Sedusa immediately whirled to face no other than Frankie Foster in person. "Oh, Francis Foster. Tell me… how is this going to stop, then?"

Frankie didn't answer. On the sixth day since her first encounter with the Powerpuff-Girls-inspired imaginary friends, she had learned that sometimes actions were more effective than words. That was why she walked until she was just a meter away from the evil doer and fired at her the most threatening glare Sedusa had ever seen.

Unconsciously, the planner of the so-called surprise made a step back. "Wait, wait, wait. There's no need to be impulsive!"

Frankie scratched her chin in thought for a second. Then, she simply said, "Nah."

A second later, Sedusa was running for her life, but before she could disappear she basically got tackled Rugby-style by a pack of Blossoms, the same ones who had brought Frankie to the foyer. The pink Powerpuffs made no mistake in restraining her before she could react. Now entrapped by the various fingerless limbs keeping her blocked, Sedusa could only pout in response to Frankie's scolding look. "That should teach you a lesson, I hope…"

"Ha! Fat chance of that!" Sedusa suddenly found the strength to retort, "You'll realize your big mistake soon enough!"

"You know what? That's the  **problem!"**

Out of all the answers, this one took Sedusa's aback. And it did the same for all the imaginary friends around them… including the rest of the Foster's gang and the groups they brought with them, who had reached the crowd just in time to witness to the scene.

"The fact that you  _all_  cannot understand… not even  _fathom_ that you're making everyone's life here harder and harder!"

Her eyes shifted from the astounded villain to all the imaginary friends nearby. "I'm talking about you! All of you!" she pointed an accusing finger forward and moved it around herself, including every imaginary friend she could see in her accuse… every  _themed_ one. She made no exceptions: from the cutest Powerpuff to the most irascible Rowdyruff, they all received their portion of Frankie's glare.

"Can't you see what you've been doing until now? Listen, I would never ask you to get along with each other at once… I know very well it's not that simple, to see the world you were living in just a few days before leave you and find you have to share a new one with others. There have been hundreds like you before. But you…  _we._ Weall are on the same boat."

Frankie inhaled a little breath of air before resuming her speech. "It's no mystery we've spent the last few days trying to manage our new numbers, and maybe we've failed a little in doing so… and it's probably my fault more than anyone. But that is not an excuse for…  _this!"_ she gestured to Sedusa, who kept her mouth shut for once.

"If we continue to try to let chaos loose, we'll end up  _levelling_ Foster's to the ground, if not worse. We all, and I mean  _all,_ need to make some sacrifices,"she said this while giving a glance to the  _non-_ themed imaginary friends… the rest of the gang included. Wilt, Coco, Eduardo, Mac and even Bloo flinched when Frankie's glare fell on them. Her stern look defied any possible question or doubt about her words… there was no need for further clarifications.

Not even crickets could be heard. The silence was total, and everyone waited for Frankie to talk. But suddenly, the redhead's behaviour changed and the anger that could be felt from her sentences left her, leaving space for what could only be interpreted as… resignation?

"Why do I even try…" she said while looking down. "I've already told you more than once, and  _this_ is the result…"

Footsteps could be heard, along with a "Move to the side, please leave some space!" said by Mr. Herriman's voice. Soon enough, the imaginary rabbit appeared as he made his way through the crowd, and behind him came Madame Foster.

"Dear," she said while quietly walking towards her granddaughter, "I know what you're feeling right now, and that's not true."

"But I should have known better!" Frankie protested, "I should've been able to pull it off!"

"Not even you, I and Mr. Herriman together have been able to manage them all, dear. There is only one reason for everything that's happened."

She turned around and raised her walking stick, "I hope that you all listened to Frankie's words, and that you will think about what she's said. We all had our part in everything that's happened until today, and it's time for all of us to come to terms with your own role and think about it. Now, move it!"

Her last words got an immediate reaction as everyone started moving to leave the foyer. Mr. Herriman made sure that everyone respected the desire of Madame Foster by firing his own orders: "Move along! Nothing to see here! To your sleeping quarters!"

Frankie remained where she was, her sadness still visible, while Madame Foster continued to talk with her. The rest of the gang was not able to hear what they were saying and soon they left the place along with everyone else.

"That was… unexpected," Bloo simply said. He was shocked to the point he had no ideas for a sarcastic comment.

"She's been mad before, and she's scary when she gets angry! But when she later saddened… I would never have thought she'd react like that. I hope she'll be okay," Eduardo said.

"We all do," Wilt confirmed. "We just have to wait and hope that all of the others realize their mistakes."

"Coco," Coco agreed. Mac nodded before adding, "What she's said is true  _for all of us,_  who more, who less. If that did not get the message across to every imaginary friend at Foster's… I don't know what will do."


	7. Day Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. The crazy week has finally reached its end. I have conflicting feelings about this story, and it's far from being the best of my works for several reasons… yet, I'm happy I've managed to bring it forward after a long hiatus and reach this moment. If you're reading this, I really hope that the chapters got at least a smile out of you. If they didn't, that's my fault and I'll do my best to not repeat the same errors in the future. Thanks for reading!

* * *

_**Finale** _

**SATURDAY**

* * *

 

Adopt-a-thought Saturday! Truly one of the happiest days of the month at Foster's. And today, for the current inhabitants of the mansion, this was even truer.

The front garden of Foster's was full. As if,  _full to its maximum size,_ thanks to the vast number of both visitors and imaginary friends that were present. No one had expected this many visitors and everyone had to work hard to make sure everyone was properly greeted. Luckily their struggles, as could be seen right now, had not been in vain.

Something that was hard to believe for Mac. The little kid was currently staring at the scene from the curb out of Foster's, right in front of the entrance cage, with wide eyes. He was so shocked that he didn't even notice the arrival of Goo, who immediately saluted, "Oh, hi, Mac!"

Mac did not answer, and Goo had to shake his shoulder to get his attention. "Hellooo, earth calls Mac! What's up?"

"Goo!" Mac was flabbergasted by the calm demeanour of the girl. "Look!"

"What? I don't see anything strange. It's Adopt-a-thought Saturday anyway," Goo said.

"But there's, like, double- no,  _quadruple_  the usual number of visitors!"

"Well, duh!" Goo raised an eyebrow. "There're more imaginary friends to adopt, silly!"

Mac wasn't satisfied by her explanation. He had been sure that he would have seen  _more_ imaginary friends coming to Foster's today after his experience of the previous days luck-wise, and he was reluctant to change his idea. He shook his head before giving up on the discussion. "Let's just go. I want to see through this…"

Goo shrugged and accompanied him right into the garden. Mac was immediately hit by the fact that most of the imaginary friends greeting the potential adopters were  _themed._ Powerpuff-based characters were entertaining people all around him, and were being quite good at doing so.

A woman weirdly dressed in a lab coat was curiously inspecting the Amoeba Boys. She poked at them with what looked like a super-sized needle, yet the amoebas didn't seem to mind. On the contrary: every sample the woman got from them earned a series of chuckles from the imaginary friends. "Hey, stop the tickling!" Bossman protested, but the woman continued unperturbed, much to the amusement of the little girl that was witnessing the scene. "I like them, mom!"

Mac looked away, still unconvinced, but his eyes fell on yet another scene while he and Goo walked. A Mojo Jojo was speaking with a high tone to a boy around his age. Mojo's gestures were particularly efficient in helping his explanations, though a little exaggerated, but the boy was smiling all along and clapping his hands… or rubbing them, plotting who knows what.

Before Mac could try to ignore them, the Mojo Jojo turned towards him, and the boy immediately recognized the imaginary friend as the one Mojo Jojo he had got to know. Mac expected a nod at most, but instead the Mojo Jojo gave him a thumbs-up and grinned, taking him aback.

Astonished, Mac shook his head, but in every direction he chose to look at there was another example of people, imaginary and not, having the time of their lives. First, he saw a Princess Morebucks talking to a girl who looked quite self-important with her pompous attire, apparently giving advices on her clothing which the girl seemed to be interested in. A little away from them Duchess was expressing her dismay in seeing a potential adopter brought away from her, but every Powerpuff-themed imaginary friend ignored her. The few non-themed ones did the same, but were probably as disappointed as her.

Near one of the buffet tables, Fuzzy Lumpkins was narrating tales to a group of three kids, who looked quite entrapped by his story. Right behind him, the imaginary versions of Ms. Keane and Ms. Bellum were discussing with a group of mothers who looked quite interested by imaginary friends who could babysit as well in case of need, while the Mayor was busy trying to get his hat back from the sons and daughters of said mothers.

A group of kids sat under one of the trees planted in the garden, their eyes fixed on the show going on above: Him was moving from branch to branch, doing all type of acrobatics while using his pinchers skilfully to get a hold of every support he could find. The kids cried in excitement everytime Him completed a somersault and vehemently asked for a bis, which Him had yet to say no to.

A lone father had found finally something to do as a Professor tried to talk with him and they ended up discussing cooking techniques instead of inventions, all while the son of said father was having the time of his life hanging out with a trio of Rowdyruff Boys. The four of them were picking on a group of Powerpuff Girls, who were however actually laughing at their attempts to annoy them, along with a fourth girl who seemed to know the previously-mentioned kid.

Even the most problematic imaginary friends had apparently found a possible match, as what looked like the classic convict who had just left prison (with or without the guards' consent) and his two children were entrapped by the sight of the Powerpunk Girls, while in another part of the garden a little girl was rummaging through her backpack, supposedly looking for some type of fashion design magazine, all while Sedusa waited for her to show the sources she used in a past debate.

Mac's attempt to find at least a worrying scene proved futile. It was, in fact, hard to finda lone imaginary friend looking for someone or waiting for a kid to get interested in him. He noticed, though, the general lack of non-themed imaginary friends, save for the few who were working cleaning and serving the visitors.

"Wilt!" Goo called as she sprinted away. Mac immediately followed suit and they reached the tall imaginary friend just as he was giving five children a series of inviting sweets. "Don't forget to thank the chef himself, Professor Utonium! …Even though I don't know  _what one…_  oh, hello guys!"

"Already getting into the run of things, huh, Wilt?" Goo said.

Wilt shrugged. "That's what I always do, but today is special. You and Mac have surely seen how everyone is basically happy right now around us, do you?"

"Yeah…" Mac admitted.

"Mr. Herriman has had something like thirty adoption requests during the first hour. We're all pretty sure that by the end of the day there won't be a single Powerpuff Girls based imaginary friend left at Foster's. But hey, I'll let him tell you – since I'm here, I'll bring you to the others. We're all watching from the background… we really don't want to accidentally do something bad and ruin the equilibrium here!"

Goo and Mac followed Wilt throughout the garden, passing beside bellowing evil geniuses and giggling bug-eyed kids, until they finally reached the area right in front of Foster's. A group of original imaginary friends sat on the porch and the stairs right below, and among them there were Eduardo and Coco.

"Hola, Señor Mac! Señora Goo!" Eduardo immediately said once he realized who was following Wilt. He and Coco stood up and went to meet them.

"So, how are you doing, Ed?" Mac asked. The boy was still throwing glances behind himself, towards the crowd of imaginary friends and visitors.

"I'd say great. Everyone's having an enjoyable time instead of wrecking things up. Even the villains!" Eduardo exclaimed.

"Which is a huge accomplishment by itself. Seeing the imaginary girls and boys alone tolerating each other is sure a breath-taking scene…" Wilt added.

"Hard to believe… Mmh. What about Bloo, have you seen him?" Mac tried to distract himself by asking for the blue blob.

"Cococo Cocooo…" Coco said.

"I'm not surprised. Bloo can be very stubborn when he wants, but it's his choice then. This Adopt-a-thought Saturday should be a blessing even for him," Mac commented.

"He's going to realize it soon enough… if I know Bloo a little, he will get bored and join us in half an hour at most," Wilt said, getting a chuckle out of both Coco and Mac.

"Ha… You know him very well," Mac confirmed. He looked again at the rest of the garden… and again, he saw nothing but happy faces. The boy whoever had yet to accept what his eyes were seeing, and his friends took notice of his

"I'm sorry, Mac, but is there something that's wrong?"

"Yeah! I mean, given what you've told me about this last week you should be celebrating! What's with all the seriousness, Mac? It's like you're going to miss someone out of all the new imaginary friends who might get adopted today!"

Goo's remark was innocent by itself – she had simply stated the first thought that crossed her mind.

Thus, she didn't understand why Mac suddenly blushed and turned away from her, all while Eduardo, Coco and Wilt tried their best not to laugh out loud.

"No, no! …Well, not only that. But really, guys!" Mac protested, glaring at the three imaginary friends. "I'm just… you know, we've been through a lot these last few days… can't imagine what  _you_ had to bear, living with all the newcomers… and I can't really fully believe what's happening right now. It's just  _too good."_

"I assure you Mac, this time there is no mistake, nor trick," a female voice replied. Mac, Goo, Coco, Wilt and Eduardo had not noticed that Frankie Foster and Mr. Herriman had joined them while they were still talking.

"Frankie!" Mac said. "How's it going? I mean, I don't want to ask… you know…"

"Yep, I know, and you don't have to worry," Frankie immediately said, making sure to mess his hair a little bit. "I'm good. Yesterday I reached my breaking point and said things that I shouldn't have said, but I'm over it."

"It was a distasteful spectacle, indeed, but it did have an effect… as we can all see," Mr. Herriman noted, gesturing with his hand towards the crowd. Everyone nodded their agreement… except for Mac, who failed to follow his reasoning.

"…What?"

"Miss Francis' reaction might have been excessive, Master Mac, but even I knew that the meaning behind her words had true foundations. After you left Foster's, I was asked by a group of imaginary friends to accompany them to her room: they wanted to ask for forgiveness personally to Miss Francis."

"Now, that was something I didn't expect… especially since there was a pair of imaginary lumpkins among them. But the point is, the fact that they  _came_  showed that they had  _understood._ And this morning we suddenly found out it was far easier than we thought to prepare the garden for Adopt-a-thought Saturday. They helped us a lot and most of them did their best to not argue with whoever they didn't like," Frankie continued.

"I have witnessed a peculiar scene, Master Mac, where Master Cheese had been rampaging around the buffet tables early this afternoon. The imaginary friends inspired by the famous television cartoon ignored his presence to the point that the rascal became bored by the lack of attention and left the premises without further damage. Being able to tolerate Master Cheese until he loses interest is a rare virtue, as I'm sure you know well."

Mac's mouth had been left open for a good minute by now.

"This is all good," Frankie said, "but of course the best part is the high number of visitors and potential adopters that came to Foster's today!"

"The demand for the 'Powerpuff-Girls-themed' guests had been way higher than the rest of Foster's guests: my office is currently full of paperwork solely regarding the recent new arrivals and their potential adopters. I'm positive that we'll have at most ten imaginary friends left of the group I have mentioned, if not even less."

Mac looked at Wilt, who smiled and nodded, and eventually the boy couldn't help but smile himself. There was no reason to worry about right now: the new imaginary friends had learned their lesson and they were departing, either way. Maybe he would be missing having a court of blue-eyed imaginary girls ready to satisfy whatever he asked them to do… but that was beyond the point.

They had somehow survived the week, and now they were free.

* * *

Later that day, just as the firsts hints of the evening became noticeable, only a few visitors were left in the garden: the event had technically ended, and they were simply waiting for their turn to complete the tedious process Mr. Herriman required for every successful adoption. Some imaginary friends were still working, cleaning the litter and starting to pack up the various pieces of furniture and decorations that had been brought into the garden earlier.

More stunning than anything else was the utter lack of themed imaginary friends. The only one left was a lone Mojo Jojo, who was currently arguing with the little boy who was supposed to adopt him… even though the boy seemed to be rather amused by the chimpanzee's rant.

Frankie was looking over the situation from the front porch of Foster's, leaning over the wooden parapet. Officially she was there just to keep an eye on the imaginary friends' job in the garden, but a genius wasn't needed to understand that they were doing great without her orders. Thus, she was really just enjoying the sight of the empty garden and the lack of the noise she had grown accustomed to the previous week.

"So… they're gone?" Mac's voice said. Frankie didn't even turn to face him. "Yes, they are… just let the last few ones leave with their new families, and there won't be a single one left.  _Perfect score."_

Mac nodded and simply leaned on the wall opposite of Frankie. "You know… it's funny, if I think about it. I've seen everything happen at Foster's and I used to think that the chaos here was unmatched… but this experience taught me that there are a lot of diverse levels of 'chaos', most of which I cannot even fathom."

"Indeed. Grandma told me she has had to deal with a situation similar to ours twice. One day she was happy with her parents and the imaginary friends, and the day after Foster's was full of imperial stormtroopers," Frankie said as she finally turned to look at him.

"I'd rather not even picture that," Mac said while shuddering, a reaction that made the redhead let out a chuckle. "Eh, this morning she told me that the first time she had freaked out much like me yesterday. It was very hard for her and at one point she couldn't take it anymore… but after that, she bit the bullet and moved forward, and she managed to have the stormtroopers get along with the rebels."

"And I thought Madame Foster was cool…" Mac said. The secrets behind the figure of the short old woman continued to surprise him everytime he discovered a new one.

"The point is, she told me that since that day she had learned that, sometimes, you can't have everything in control despite whatever you do, and that you don't have to feel bad about it. You just have to push forward and, sooner or later, the results will come."

"And… you think this is true?"

"Given what happened between yesterday's afternoon and today, I'd say yes," Frankie confirmed, smiling. "It was a combination of bad choices from everyone that made life hard this week, but now we know how to take on whatever swarm of imaginary friends may invade Foster's!"

This time it was Mac's turn to chuckle. "Let's just hope that won't happen for a long-"

"MAC!"

Bloo's form suddenly flied between Frankie and Mac, landing on the wood with a thundering  _'thud'._

"MAC!"

"Geez, Bloo, calm down, I'm here!"

"You won't believe it, Mac!" Bloo exclaimed, "You won't!"

Mac sighed. "Of course, I won't, unless you tell me…"

"But you won't! They've just made a huge announcement! I can't… Mac, Jack is back!"

…

"Jack who?"

"Samurai Jack, the show we used to watch together back at home!" Bloo exclaimed, "It's back! They're making a new final season!"

Suddenly, Mac realized the extent of what Bloo was telling him. "Wow… wow! I can't believe it!"

"Told ya'!"

"What do you know about it, Bloo? Tell me-…  _wait._  Wait a second…"

Mac felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders and he was abruptly turned around, only to see Frankie's face five centimetres away from his. He didn't even have the time to start feeling awkward.

" _Don't."_

"Uhh… what?" Bloo asked, confused by Frankie's move, but the woman raised a hand to hush him to. "You too! Don't even  _think_  about it!"

But it was too late.

" **HAHAHA! YOU FOOOOOLS!"**

Bloo was even more confused… while the look on the faces of Frankie and Mac was one of pure terror. The three of them slowly whirled their heads to stare at the garden… and the huge imaginary friend who was looming over them.

"There is no escape from my rule… I am the shogun of sorrow, the master of darkness… and you will acknowledge the presence of me,  **Aku!"**

The imaginary shape-shifting master of darkness was quite pleased with the display he was giving… he was a little less pleased when he suddenly felt something pointy stinging him from behind.

"Ow! OW! Hey, what gives?" Aku said as he turned his attention away from the bewildered Frankie, Mac and Bloo… "Oh…  _you."_

"I won't let you flee from your destiny, Aku!" Samurai Jack bellowed as he continued to poke at Aku's body with a sword which seemed to be made of anything but metal and humanity's righteousness.

"You will? Then try come and capture me, Samurai!" Aku challenged before morphing into a… little owl, and retreating from the enraged samurai.

Once the two imaginary friends left, Frankie, Mac and Bloo finally got a sight of what was going on in the rest of the garden… and of course, it wasn't a scene they liked. There were dozens of samurais in white  _gis_  and pitch black demons fighting each other in mostly pathetic ways or busy in irate discussion duels, and they were mixed with all types of imaginary creatures, from ominous bounty hunters to particularly loud warriors with clear Scottish origins.

"…wow. That was unexpected," Bloo said. He was surprised, but not particularly preoccupied. "What do you think, Mac?"

…

"Mac?"

He turned around and found out that both Frankie and Mac had fallen and were now lying on the porch, looking at the ceiling.

"Oh…"

"I think I'm just going to lie here for a minute, just to make sure I'm not seeing things…" Mac spluttered.

From afar they could hear a scream, followed by the noise of a tree being uprooted.

"I'm afraid that's not the case… ugh," Frankie admitted. She closed her eyes and, for a minute, tried to empty her mind and calm herself down.

_Okay, Frankie, here's the deal. It's happening again, but this time it's different… together, we can do this and there's no need to lose it. We just have to be smart and we'll get these new imaginary friends happy with their new home before you know it._

She made a long sigh, and finally she reopened her eyes.

_Time to get to work._

**THE END**


End file.
